Mrs. Robert A. Workman

Workman, Elizabeth Russe

British, born 1874

Explore Selected Works

A dark-haired, disembodied head of a haloed man with pale, peach skin floats against a red and yellow background in this vertical portrait. The man’s hair seems to be flattened against his forehead, and extends beyond his head at the back in a way that suggests it may become a cap or hood. His face turns toward us, and he looks down to our left under arched eyebrows. He has a prominent hooked nose and a brushy mustache. Behind his head, the background is divided into a tomato-red zone for the top half and a golden yellow field below, separated by a thin, pine-green line. Two red and green apples hang from a branch near the upper right corner. The thin yellow halo floats over his head to the left of the branch. A pine-green, stylized, vine-like form curves up from the bottom edge of the panel and ends with flat, sunshine yellow, square shapes, perhaps abstracted flowers or fruit. A hand near the lower right holds one end of the vine like a cigarette between fingertips. The vine seems to turn into a serpent’s head beyond the man’s fingers. Numbers and letters are painted in green in the lower left: “1889” and “P Go.”
Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait, 1889, oil on wood, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.150

Self-Portrait

Paul Gauguin · 1889 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1963.10.150

A street stretches away from us between two walls to a town in this vertical, loosely painted landscape. Thick, textured brushstrokes are visible throughout. The pavement directly in front of us is camel brown with a pale blue squiggle suggesting a puddle. The wall to the right is celery green, and a bright blue sign is at the top, far corner. The wall to the left is buttressed and is painted in shades of sky and lapis blue. The road beyond the path is parchment brown, and three and four-story buildings lining the left side of the road are painted in tones of burnt orange, butter yellow, denim blue, and off white. Branches of a tree growing over the wall to the left are painted with curling strokes in olive green and royal blue, and the sky is very pale, yellow-tinted green. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Maurice Utrillo.V. 1909.”
Maurice Utrillo, Rue Cortot, Montmartre, 1909, oil on cardboard, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.88

Rue Cortot, Montmartre

Maurice Utrillo · 1909 · oil on cardboard ·  Accession ID  1970.17.88

Four yellow apples, a lime, and a ceramic pitcher are loosely arranged across a tabletop covered with a carnation-pink cloth patterned with white flowers in this almost square, stylized still life painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes in saturated colors throughout. We look slightly down onto the front corner of the table, where the canary-yellow apples sit in the folds of the tablecloth. The apple closest to us at the corner of the table has a scarlet-red patch on the side facing us. Between the two rightmost apples, the lime is painted in shamrock and fern green. The cloth is bunched up just behind the apples to partially obscure the pitcher sitting near the back of the table. The pitcher is painted with swipes and patches of white, aquamarine blue, and silver gray with gold highlights along its spout. Daubs of pine green, rose pink, and flame red suggest a floral decoration on its side. The wall beyond the table fills the height of the composition, and is scattered with white flowers layered over an aquamarine-blue background. The blossoms seem oversized, each the size of a blown-up balloon. Other leafy forms painted with sapphire blue and plum purple could be more flowers or leaves. Two vertical stripes to the left and right behind the table are made up of strokes and daubs of caramel brown over honey yellow. The artist signed the lower right, “Henri-Matisse.”
Henri Matisse, Still Life with Apples on a Pink Tablecloth, 1924, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.169

Still Life with Apples on a Pink Tablecloth

Henri Matisse · 1924 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.169

Bibliography

1926

  • Manson, J.B. "The Workman Collection: Modern Foreign Art," Apollo 3 (1926): 139-144.

1986

  • Hahnloser-Ingold, Margrit. "Collecting Matisses of the 1920s in the 1920s," in Matisse: The Early Years in Nice. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986: 259.

2006

  • Bailey, Martin. Van Gogh and Britain: Pioneer Collectors. Exh cat. National Galleries of Scotland, 2006: 129.