Old Annie
Artist
George Copeland Ault
(American, 1891 - 1948)
Date1919
MediumWatercolor on paper
DimensionsUnframed: 13 x 11 inches (33.02 x 27.94 cm)
Credit LineGift of Donald Lokuta
Object number2010.66.9
Inscribedu.l.: G.C. Ault '19; verso: Old Annie, June 9,1919, Hillside, N.J.
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionPortrait of a woman in front of a washed purple/grey background; brown hair pulled back and gaze cast down; blouse or dress is the white of paper Gallery Label
Watercolor on paper Old Annie represents a rarity in Ault’s body of work—portraiture. By leaving the background nondescript and the details of the model’s clothing unfinished, Ault focuses attention on the aging sitter’s head. His treatment of Annie—turned away from the viewer and with eyes downcast— conveys a melancholy world weariness that makes this watercolor as much a portrait of a mood as of a person.
Ault painted Old Annie while living in Hillside, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. Although he was in proximity to the artistic vanguard on display in New York galleries, his art from this period retained the conservative influence of his formative British academic training.
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