Farrell Ruth Clements (1 results)

Condition: Very Good. Ruth Clements Farrell (illustrator). A charming, deceptively simple, small watercolor of children playing or just standing around, taking in what's around them, in a city park, most likely in Greenwich Village, and we think probably one of the smaller parks created out of the awkward triangular parcels where streets meet at acute angles -- and there use to be more of these then than today. N.d. Circa 1922. Our dating is based on a very similar watercolor painting by the same artist that was part of an exhibit by the Whitney Studio Club. The Whitney Studio Club was founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, along with the Whitney Galleries, both of which evolved into the Whitney Museum. The painting is nearly square, 17 by 16 cm. With frame, 19.5 by 18.5 cm. The frame of painted wood is simple, somewhat scratched, and to us reads like a piece of Folk Art, or a frame one would find at a country auction housing Folk Art. We do not consider the painting true Folk Art -- we believe the artist is deliberate in seeking to capture the artless quality associated with the most infection Folk Art imagery, though. We count eight children, four in the foreground, in the painting, and four adults, three of whom are nuns, one, a mother or other chaperone. With great economy Farrell captures the scene. One can almost hear the children as they cavort and romp. Their dress, too, is rendered convincingly even though with each child there are but a few impressionistic strokes. The paper onto which Farrell painted was not the highest quality, and it has browned considerably. There are also a few dampstains and other small stains. These defects fortunately do not seriously mar the artwork.