Day Dreams

model 1898, cast late 1906/early 1907

Bessie Potter Vonnoh

Associated Names
Bessie Potter Vonnoh

Sculptor, American, 1872 - 1955

The sculpture shows a woman and a young girl on a couch. The woman sits, leaning towards the child who is lying on the couch with her head in the woman's lap. Both figures are dressed in long garments. The couch is intricately carved with folds and patterns. The sculpture is made of a dark material, highlighting the detail and connection between the figures. The couch has decorative scrolls and floral motifs at its ends.
Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is not available for download. Contact us about image usage.
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery M70

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    bronze

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase)

  • Dimensions

    overall: 26.67 × 53.98 × 27.94 cm (10 1/2 × 21 1/4 × 11 in.)
    gross weight: 16.329 kg (36 lb.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.3623

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased March 1910 from the artist by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1910

  • Works in Sculpture by Mrs. Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 5-20 March 1910, no. 10.

1979

  • The American Renaissance 1876-1917, Brooklyn Museum; National Collection of Fine Arts (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Wshington; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; Denver Art Museum, 13 October 1979 - 30 November 1980, no. 273.

1981

  • Of Time and Place: American Figurative Art from the Corcoran Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Cincinnati Art Museum; San Diego Museum of Art; University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Des Moines Art Center; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL, 1981-1983, no. 25.

1984

  • The Woman Sculptor: Malvina Hoffman and Her Contemporaries, Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 24 October - 8 December 1984, no. 38, repro.

1987

  • Women at Work: Sculpture from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1897-1947, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 16 May - 23 August 1987, unnumbered catalogue.

1999

  • The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-2000, Part I: 1900-1950, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 15 April - 5 September 1999, unnumbered catalogue.

2002

  • Gilded Cage: Views of American Women, 1873–1921, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 13 July - 27 August 2002, unpublished checklist.

2003

  • The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 19 July 2003 - 18 October 2004, unpublished checklist.

2004

  • Figuratively Speaking: The Human Form in American Art, 1770-1950, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 20 November 2004 - 7 August 2005, unpublished checklist.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1 March - 27 July 2008, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

1987

  • Banta, Martha. Imaging American Women: Ideas and Ideals in Cultural History. New York, 1987: 358, 361, fig. 8.11.

1989

  • Conner, Janis, and Joel Rosenkranz. Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893-1938. Austin, 1989: 165.

2008

  • Aronson, Julie. Bessie Potter Vonnoh: Sculptor of Women. Athens, OH, 2008: 88, 93-96, 126, fig. 9.

Inscriptions

on top of base, back left center: Bessie Potter Vonnoh / No 1 / Copyright 1903; at edge of base, back right: ROMAN BRONZE WORKS / N.Y.

Markings

FM: Roman Bronze Works

Wikidata ID

Q63863795

You may be interested in

Loading Results