Girl Playing Solitaire
Artist
Frank Weston Benson
(American, 1862–1951)
Date1909
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 128.3 × 102.9 cm (50 1/2 × 40 1/2 in.)
framed (no buildout): 156.2 × 130.8 × 8.3 cm (61 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 3 1/4 in.)
framed (no buildout): 156.2 × 130.8 × 8.3 cm (61 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 3 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1909.14
Label TextIn Girl Playing Solitaire, Benson portrays an elegant young woman surrounded by objects of refinement. Fashionably seated on a Windsor chair, she breaks from her card game to enter into somber quietude. The polished mahogany table and silver candlesticks complement Japanese influences found in the porcelain bowl and gilt screen. These early American and Asian elements, along with her billowy skirt echoing the clouds on the screen, infuse the work with a dream-like quality. Celebrated for his Gilded Age portraits of the feminine ideal, Benson represents the languid sitter as a beautiful object for display, yet also a solitary one confined to her domestic sphere.ProvenanceFrank W. Benson, Boston MAOn View
Not on view
