Lot 441: Margaret W. Lesley Bush-Brown (American, 1857-1944), The Blue Jar, Signed "M.L. Bush-Brown" l.l., titled and inscribed "Arts Club Exhib

Margaret W. Lesley Bush-Brown (American, 1857-1944)

The Blue Jar
Signed "M.L. Bush-Brown" l.l., titled and inscribed "Arts Club Exhibition/
"The Blue Jar"/by M. Leslie Bush-Brown/1729 G St./Lydia Bush-Brown at Mrs. Coonley Wards place on the terrace" on the reverse.
Oil on board, 13 x 15 1/4 in. (33.0 x 38.7 cm), framed.
Condition: Good.

Exhibitions: Woman's Arts Club, Washington, D.C.

N.B. The artist's daughter and sitter, Lydia Bush-Brown, was born in 1887 and became a noted artist and designer. The location of the painting is "Hillside," the Wyoming, New York, retreat of Lydia Avery Coonley Ward (1845-1924), a writer, suffragist, and supporter of the arts from Chicago. "Hillside" became a retreat for many artists, writers, and dignitaries in the early 20th century. The Bush-Browns moved from New York to Washington, D.C. in 1910. According to the Bush-Brown family papers located at Smith College, Lydia attended Mrs. Coonley Ward's Wyoming Village Summer School in 1916. Letters from Henry Bush-Brown indicate that Margaret Bush-Brown visited Mrs. Coonley Ward in Wyoming, New York, in 1921. (1)

1. Bush-Brown Family Papers, 1835-1969, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. [Box 8, Family Correspondence].