Maria Richards Oakey Dewing Sold at Auction Prices
Painter, b. 1845 - d. 1927
(b New York City, 1845; d New York City, 1927) American Painter. Maria Oakey Dewing grew up in a cultured environment, with a family who encouraged her interest in writing and painting. She decided at age seventeen to devote herself to painting, receiving her early training at the Cooper Union School of Design for Women in 1866 and studying under John La Farge thereafter. By 1875, Dewing had established herself as an artist and was one of the primary motivators behind the formation of the Art Student's League in New York. In 1881, Maria Oakey married Thomas Wilmer Dewing and her primary subject matter began to shift away from figure painting, a genre in which her husband was established as one of the finest talents, toward gardens and flowers painted spontaneously out of doors. From 1885 to 1903, the Dewings spent their summers in Cornish, New Hampshire, where Thomas cultivated a garden and both husband and wife devoted themselves to their work.* Maria Oakey Dewing developed into an avid amateur botanist and plein air painter. She prided herself on her careful observation of plants and her ability to capture their individual growing habits. (Credit: *Sotheby’s, New York, American Paintings, May 24, 2006, Lot 40; Sotheby’s, New York, American Paintings, May 24, 2001, Lot 10)
Maria Oakey Dewing (American, 1845-1927) Still Life with Irises, Poppies, and Mignonettes in a Blue Vase, c. 1880s oil on canvas inscribed Mrs. Thomas Dewing with the address of her studio (stretcher) 62 1/4 x 30 in.
MARIA OAKEY DEWING American (1845-1927) "Springflowers with Roses, Daffodils and Larkspur" oil on canvas, signed and dated 1923 lower right. 24 x 14 inches Provenance: Milch Galleries; Private Collection, New Jersey; New Jersey Estate; John H. Surovek Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida.
Maria Oakey Dewing (1845-1927) Spring Flowers with Roses, Daffodils and Larkspur signed and dated 'Maria Oakey Dewing 1923' (lower right) oil on canvas 24 x 14 in. (61 x 35.6 cm.)
PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION ROSE GARDEN measurements 24 by 40 1/2 in. alternate measurements (61.0 by 102.9 cm) signed Maria Oakey Dewing and dated 1901, l.l. oil on canvas Dr. Susan Hobbs, author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work, has commented that the Rose Garden is probably Maria Dewing's finest work, especially with its unique Stanford White designed frame. PROVENANCE Mr. and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid, New York (acquired directly from the artist) Estate of Mrs. Whitelaw Reid (sold: American Art Association-Anderson Galleries, New York, May 2, 1934, lot 305) Mrs. J.W.S. Reid (acquired at the above sale) T.R. Baird, New York Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1976 (sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 24, 2000, lot 18, illustrated in color) Acquired by the present owner at the above sale EXHIBITED Boston, Massachusetts, Copley Society Exhibition, 1902, no. 78 Buffalo, New York, Pan-American Exhibition, 1901 (bronze medal) New York, National Academy of Design, Ninety-eighth Annual Exhibition, 1923, no. 97 New York, Milch Galleries, 1923 Tulsa, Oklahoma, Philbrook Art Center; New York, National Academy of Design, Painters of the Humble Truth: American Still Life Painting, September 1981-July 1982, no. 27, p. 147, illustrated p. 146, fig. 7.5 (detail) LITERATURE Arthur Edwin Bye, Pots and Pans or Studies in Still-Life Painting, Princeton, New Jersey, 1921, p. 199 Royal Cortissoz, New York Herald Tribune, March 25, 1923 Sadakichi Hartmann, A History of American Art, vol. 1, p. 249 Jennifer A. Martin, "The Rediscovery of Maria Oakey Dewing," The Feminist Art Journal, Summer 1976, p. 24 Jennifer A. Martin, "Royal Cortissoz and Maria Oakey Dewing's 'Rose Garden'," The Yale University Library Gazette 52, October 1977, pp. 84-88, illustrated Jennifer A. Martin, "Portraits of Flowers: The Out-of-Door Still-Life Paintings of Maria Oakey Dewing," American Art Review, vol. IV, no. 3, December 1977, pp. 114, 115, 118, illustrated in color p. 53 NOTE Maria Oakey Dewing was born in New York City in 1845. She grew up in a cultured environment and her interest in writing and painting was encouraged by her family. Though she initially wanted to become a writer, she decided at age seventeen to devote herself to painting. She received her early training at the Cooper Union School of Design for Women in 1866 and later studied under John La Farge, whose influence is particularly evident in her beautiful plein air paintings of flowers. By 1875, Dewing had established herself as an artist and was one of the primary motivators behind the formation of the Art Student's League in New York. One of her classmates wrote of her role among her peers, "Maria Oakey...was looked upon as a distinguished student on account of her work being exhibited in the academy, and attracting so much attention for its broad, vigorous brushstroke, and rich, glowing color. She gave the impetus of her prestige to the new League" (as quoted in Martin, "Portraits of Flowers: The Out-of-Door Still-Life Paintings of Maria Oakey Dewing," American Art Review, December 1977, pp. 52, 55). In 1881, Maria Oakey married Thomas Wilmer Dewing, and her primary subject matter began to shift away from figure painting, for which her husband was established as one of the finest talents, toward gardens and flowers, painted spontaneously out of doors. From 1885 to 1903, the Dewings spent their summers in Cornish, New Hampshire, where Thomas cultivated a garden and both husband and wife devoted themselves to their work. Jennifer Martin writes, " There, at the home she called 'Doveridge,' she executed many of the plein air flower paintings. The beauty of the New Hampshire landscape stimulated her creativity, just as it motivated a host of artists and writers who flocked to Cornish during those years. "...In her Cornish garden she spent long hours studying the growth patterns, textures, and dispositions of the individual plants in order to nurture her 'garden thirsty soul.' She firmly believed that a painter of nature must bind himself to a 'long apprenticeship in the garden.' Yet, for her, a flower painting was not to be a 'mere reproduction' of reality but 'picturemaking'... "Her composition, which is similar in all of the pictures...contributes importantly to the sense of animation. The use of the highest lights in the foreground...not only emphasizes the immediacy of the composition, but also contributes to a feeling of depth. The sensation of depth is also implied by the overlapping of forms as in Rose Garden, where roses peek through the mass of green foliage, and by the rather less defined areas in the upper center...In such a two-dimensional surface where forms move out toward the frame, the viewer has an immediate sense of intimacy with growing life and, concurrently, a sense of awe. "...The originality of her paintings was noted by [Arthur E.] Bye who wrote: 'These remarkable works are absolutely unique. There is nothing like them in the field of flower painting,' and by Royal Cortissoz, authoritative critic for the New York Herald Tribune, who wrote after her death, 'The salient trait of Maria Oakey Dewing, was the strain of originality that characterized her deep feeling for beauty--There was no mistaking her quality, her accent...she knew how to interpret the soul of a flower--but her principal aim was to make it a work of art...save for John La Farge we have had no one who could work with flowers the magic that was hers" ("Portraits of Flowers: The Out-of-Door Still-Life Paintings of Maria Oakey Dewing," pp. 55, 114-16). Though Dewing's work was largely unknown in this century until Martin began to write of her rediscovery in 1976, she was widely recognized and praised during her own lifetime. On the occasion of the exhibition of the present work at the National Academy of Design in 1923, Mr. Cortissoz wrote in the New York Herald Tribune, "Mrs. Dewing's 'Rose Garden' leads the paintings of flowers through the beauty of design it possesses, its delicacy in the detachment of white and pink blossoms against a background of heavenly green, and its distinguished style. It is painted in a singularly reticent and haunting key" (Royal Cortissoz and Maria Oakey Dewing's 'Rose Garden,' The Yale University Library Gazette, October 1977, p. 87).
signed Maria Oakey Dewing and dated 1924, l.l. oil on canvas Dr. Susan Hobbs writes, "Although primarily known today as a painter of uniquely personal and exquisite flower pictures, Maria Oakey Dewing was also a portrait and figure painter of note. This work, which she called The Costumer, is one of her most mysterious and beautiful and it is a fine example of that little-known aspect of her work. "Using blue and violet tones that radiate from an unseen light source, Maria Dewing illuminated her figures from the left and then cast them into warmer, golden shadows on the right. She thereby created a resonating, atmospheric interior reminiscent of those by her husband, the well-known artist Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938). In fact, the beautifully posed, kneeling figure, with its graceful, outstretched hand and bent head, might almost have been one of his. The dark-garbed woman beside her provides a puzzling and enigmatic presence. With a mask in her up-held hands, she seems to be preparing for a stage role that requires the various costumes on the nearby screen. "They are not actually costumes, however, but rather, the artist's own studio props. Decorative, lacy and lovely, these intriguing garments serve as a virtual still-life within the composition. The richly patterned, blue-green gown at the front appears in a number of Maria Oakey Dewing's paintings, particularly the striking, fabric backdrop in her still life Carnations (see lot 37). "So too, the empire table near the center of the picture likely provided the polished mahogany surface in Carnations as well. This table was one that Thomas Dewing bought so that he would have something of William Merritt Chase's when his friend and fellow artist held a sale of his possessions at the Tenth Street Studio Building in 1896.(1) The article of furniture appears as a well-known prop in many of Thomas Dewing's works including A Reading (Smithsonian American Art Museum) and Lady in Gray (Rhode Island School of Design).
signed Maria Oakey Dewing and dated 1901, u.r.; also titled, signed and dated Carnations/Painted by Maria Oakey Dewing/1901 on the reverse prior to lining oil on canvas Dr. Susan Hobbs writes, "Known for the 'haunting and irresistible beauty' of her flower paintings, as The New York Times described them in 1914, Maria Oakey Dewing rendered this work called Carnations as a vivid study in complementary hues of reds and blue green.(1) Crimson carnations stand in stunning contrast to the vibrant turquoise of an exotic patterned fabric. The ornate richness of this floral backdrop forms a fascinating counterpoint to the spare bouquet in a Japanese vase. "The finesse with which Maria Oakey Dewing defined the play of light over form and texture suggests her deep veneration for the works of Vermeer. She admired the way that the Dutch artist used atmosphere to bathe objects so that it 'reveals and obscures.'(2) Similarly, in the shadowed folds she depicted in this painting, Maria Oakey Dewing allowed light to show where the pattern is lost and then found again, lending depth and visual interest to the background behind the still life. Even the vase itself is softly defined, its edges melting into the surrounding atmosphere. This complexity extends to the rich reflections of the mahogany table top as well. But, the primary focus is upon the thinly and delicately painted carnations rendered in Oakey Dewing's unmistakable fashion, with just a touch of white impasto as highlights to bring them forward to the viewer. "The artist showcased this work as Carnations in a Satsuma Vase at her 1907 one woman exhibition at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In a written description in her family papers, she called the picture, 'my finest achievement in painting.' It was in fact, one of two very similar canvases--the other owned by famous artist William M. Chase--who liked to refer to her 'inimitable flowers.' In her own description of the work, she continued, '[critic Royal] Cort
