Arrangement in Pink and Gray (Afternoon Tea)

Artist Edmund Charles Tarbell (American, 1862–1938)

Dateabout 1894

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 114 x 111 cm (44 7/8 x 43 11/16 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAnonymous Gift

Terms

Object number1995.73

Label TextAlthough often linked with pictures of brilliant summer days, American Impressionist painters such as Edmund Charles Tarbell created scenes year-round that sought to convey the experience of their environment. This meditative painting of two women enjoying tea in a drawing room is painted in winter, where shorter daylight hours provided the painter opportunities to explore the play of shadows across forms and the muted modulation of colors. The Japanese folding screen in the background, flattened space, and the painting’s title itself reveal Tarbell’s admiration for the work of fellow American expatriate painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who imbued his paintings with Eastern compositional principles and accessories—and who named them after musical compositions to suggest the moods the play of colors were meant to evoke in the viewer.Provenanceafter 1894 Sold to John G. Johnson of Philadelphia, PA ("Brush and Pencial," V. III No.4, January 1899) after 1899 Sold to W.P. Wilstead, Philadelphia, PA October 25, 1979 - Purchase from Sothey-Parke Bennet to Howard G. and Esther Freeman (Lot #4290) October 31,1995 - Partial gift to Worcester Art Museum (25% ownership); Esther and Howard Freeman (75%) December 31, 1997 - Partial ownership increase: Worcester Art Museum (40%); Esther and Howard Freeman (60%) November 2, 2000 - Partial ownership increase: Worcester Art Museum (50%); Esther and Howard Freeman (50%) October 12, 2009 - Partial ownersip increase: Worcester Art Museum (75%); Esther and Howard Freeman (25%) February 4, 2016 - Final ownership increase: Worcester Art Museum (100%)

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