Lot 540: Marietta Cotton (American, 1860-1926), Two Portraits of Bejeweled Women in Elegant Dress: Lady in Black and Lady in White, Signed "Mari

Marietta Cotton (American, 1860-1926)

Two Portraits of Bejeweled Women in Elegant Dress: Lady in Black and Lady in White
Signed "Marietta Cotton" l.r. and l.l., respectively.
Oil on canvas, sizes to 30 x 25 in., framed.
Condition: Both lined, Black with retouch, abrasions, surface imperfections, White with minor retouch, subtle rippling.

N.B. Marietta Cotton was a noted portraitist who studied with the famed French teacher and artist Carolus-Duran. She maintained studios in Paris, London, and New York. She counted among her friends and sitters noted socialites, such as Astors and Vanderbilts, the British royalty, as well as theatrical legends such as Greta Garbo. The portraitist herself was twice painted by William Merritt Chase, one a full-length portrait in a black dress, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.