A Woman with Red Hair

1922

American, 1869 - 1941

Portraits speak volumes about societal trends, even if we do not know the sitter’s identity. The sitter in this portrait by Boston artist Paxton gazes out with the confidence of the 1920s “New Woman.” A feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and reached well into the 20th, the “New Woman” was an educated, autonomous advocate for radical change at a time when women were entering the workforce and achieving the right to vote. This newly won liberation extended even to women’s fashion. Gone were the constrictive corsets and stiff fabrics of the previous era, replaced by loose silhouettes and natural fibers as in the dress seen here.

Oil on canvas

30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)

Framed: 39 1/4 x 34 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (99.7 x 87.6 x 6.4 cm)

Gift of the Estate of Bruce Leven

2018.5.1

Provenance: Estate of the artist; to [Vose Galleries of Boston, Inc., Massachusetts]; sold to The Regis Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, by 1978; private collection, Chicago, Illinois, by 1982; [A.J. Kollar Fine Paintings, Seattle, Washington], by 2004; purchased from gallery by Bruce Leven (1938-2017), Seattle, Washington; Estate of Bruce Leven; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2018

Photo: Elizabeth Mann

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryWashington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art, Ninth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists, Dec.16, 1923 - Jan. 20, 1924. Cat. no. 7 (as The One with Dark Red Hair).

St. Petersburg, Florida, Art Club of St. Petersburg, Paxton Exhibition, Feb. 20 - Mar. 8, 1924. {No cat. or no cat. no. ?}

Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts, Tenth Annual Exhibition of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Apr. 23 - May 31, 1924. Cat. no. 120.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Institute, Exhibition of Paintings by William M. Paxton, Oct. 4 - 30, 1924 (Sawyer Foundation, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, December). Cat. no. 13.

Madison, Wisconsin, Madison Art Association, Wisconsin state Historical Museum, Exhibition of Paintings by William M. Paxton, Philip L. Hale, Leslie P. Thompson, June 28 - Sept. 30, 1925. Cat. no. 7.

New York, Graham Gallery, William Paxton, Jan. 10 - Feb. 4, 1967. Cat. no. 21 {[for sale?]}

Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, William McGregor Paxton, 1869-1941, Aug. 16 - Oct. 1, 1978 (El Paso Museum of Art, Texas, Oct. 12 - Dec. 3, 1978; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Jan. 5 - Feb. 11, 1979; Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Mar. 24 - May 6, 1979). Text by Ellen Wardwell Lee. Cat. no. 51, p. 140, reproduced pl. 51 [lent by The Regis Corporation].

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesBoston Sunday Herald, April 16, 1922, reproduced.

J.K. “Paxton Has Exhibit at Art Gallery,” Milwaukee Journal, October 12, 1924: section V, p. 3.

The Sunday Sentinel and Milwaukee Telegram, October 12, 1924.

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