The Yellow Jacket, William McGregor Paxton, oil on canvas, roughly 27 x 22 inches (56 x 69 cm).
Link is to Bonham’s, which auctioned the painting in 2016 and has a zoomable version on the auction detail page. I don’t know the current location; I would assume it’s in a private collection. There is a smaller but reasonably large image online as part of an article about the sale on Antiques and the Arts (click on small image for larger version).
William McGregor Paxton was noted for his serene, contemplative paintings of elegantly dressed women in room interiors. In this beautifully realized example, you can see his fascination with the compositions of Vermeer, an interest he shared with fellow member of the Guild of Boston Painters, Edmund Charles Tarbell.
The rendering of the woman’s face and hair is a wonderful example of Paxton’s command of soft edges, the robe a study in subtle values, and the open book a tribute to the power of suggested detail.
Antiques and the Arts
Related posts:
William McGregor Paxton
Edmund Charles Tarbell
Lines and Colors search: Vermeer
Paxton’s dates would be appreciated, as would the date of the painting.
I thought that ladies’ clothing should button right over left and men’s left over right?
Just wondering.
1869 – 1941; 1907
The jacket may be from another culture, in which the same rules don’t apply (just a guess).
OMG, I found this text at Pinterest.com concerning the issue of left over right and the reverse:
Wearing your kimono/yukata folded right over left. DO NOT DO THIS. It means you are dead. Always be sure to fold your kimono or yukata so that the left side is over the right side; otherwise, you are dressing a corpse. If you are following a YouTube tutorial or reading up on how to put on a kimono online, chances are the author is very adamant that you have to have the left side on top.
This is very vermeer-esque. The softness of the rendering is really nice.
I guess I should read your write up next time. Basically repeated everything you already said, whoops.
She’s so beautiful!
Thank you, William McGregor Paxton, and Charley.
William McGregor Paxton did a really nice job of using shadows and light to make the Yellow Jacket the focal point of this piece.
Great minds think alike (grin).