Lady with Long Gold Earrings

Date1835-1840 (probably)

Attributed to Aaron Dean Fletcher (1817-1902)

Medium004976 Oil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 26 1/4 x 23 1/2in. (66.7 x 59.7cm) and Framed: 30 3/4 x 28in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1931.100.20

DescriptionA half-length portrait of a woman facing right. Her dark hair is pulled back severely and held with a silver comb. She wears a long, pierced, gold earring and rests her far arm on a table edge. She wears a low cut black dress with leg-o-mutton sleeves. The background is painted light brown with a yellow-fringed red drape visible in the upper right corner.
The 2 1/2-inch molded gilded frame is a modern replacement.Label TextAlthough found in New York State, the style of this portrait and its companion (1931.100.20) relates most directly to Aaron Fletcher's work between 1835 and 1840, when he was painting in the areas of Springfield, Rockingham, and Saxtons River, Vermont.

Both portraits exhibit the exaggerated articulation of facial structures characteristic of Fletcher's hand. Individual features are particularly chiseled in appearance, with sharply ridged upper lips, oddly puffed chins, and heavy-lidded eyes. Shadows beneath the eyes create the illusion of bags, and the mouths are fleshy and sensual. Such emphasis probably resulted from Fletcher's intense concentration on these areas, often at the expense of other aspects of the portrait.

Old outlines showing through the woman's dress indicate that Fletcher originally posed this subject with her proper left hand held up over her chest.ProvenanceFound in New York state by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; bought from Halpert October 3, 1931, by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, by whom given to CWF in 1939.