Frederick County Farmhouse
Gladys Nelson Smith
Artwork
The Three Muses
1890-1980
Oil on canvas
38 in x 28 in
Circa 1930
Label:
At Washington’s Corcoran School of Art, Gladys Nelson Smith took classes from the institution’s director, Boston Impressionist Edmund C. Tarbell. He specialized in portrayals of women and young people out-of-doors. In contrast to the sunny, light-filled paintings of her mentor, Smith’s canvases have a greater range of rich colors, carefully layered in broad brush strokes.
The Three Muses is an idyllic synthesis of figure painting and landscape. Each of the three young women is in a state of reverie, apparently communing with the lush nature around them. None of them bears a distinctive attribute to identify her as one of the mythological muses. The figures do not engage one another and remain distant from the viewer, qualities that add to the aura of the painting.
Now On View:
Mary Black Foundation, Spartanburg, SC
As Exhibited In:
Scenic Impressions: Southern Interpretations from the Johnson Collection, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, November 1, 2015–January 3, 2016, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, January 16–April 10, 2016, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, January 16–April 10, 2016, McKissick Museum, Columbia, SC, May 19–August 5, 2017, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, October 13, 2017–March 25, 2018, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, August 28–December 13, 2018
The Elemental South: Visions of the Southern Landscape, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, December 4, 2014–February 26, 2015
Other Artworks by This Artist
Self-Portrait
Gladys Nelson Smith
Time Out
Gladys Nelson Smith
Reflections
Gladys Nelson Smith
Kansas Twister
Gladys Nelson Smith
Children Playing on Wagon
Gladys Nelson Smith