The Writer
c. 1912
Mary Bradish Titcomb
Artist, American, 1858 - 1927
A young woman sits at a table before a row of blooming white narcissuses. The papers scattered before her, and the painting’s title, indicate her profession.
Mary Bradish Titcomb’s own workspace in Boston’s Grundmann Studios inspired this light-filled setting. The subject of a woman working was of personal importance to her. For years Titcomb supported herself as an art teacher before she pursued painting as a career. Perhaps that’s why Titcomb kept The Writer in her personal collection her whole life.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery M70
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
Gift of Funds from James and Christiane Valone in honor of Nancy K. Anderson
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Dimensions
overall: 76.2 × 63.5 cm (30 × 25 in.)
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Accession Number
2023.135.1
More About this Artwork
Article: The Quiet Revolutions of Boston's Women Artists
The women who fought to become artists in the 19th century, only to have their contributions forgotten for nearly a century.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist [1858-1927]; by descent to the children of the artist’s brother, Edward Titcomb [1863-1956], Nogales, Arizona; (c. 1998 with Covington Fine Arts Gallery, Tucson); (by January 1998 with Vose Gallery, Boston); acquired June 1998 by private collection, Durham, NH; (benefit auction, University of New Hampshire Museum of Art, Durham, NH, July 2010); private collection, Durham, NH; purchased 2023 by NGA.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1912
25th Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists, Art Institute of Chicago, 1912, no. 266.
1914
109th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 2014, no. 213.
1915
Tenth Annual Art Exhibition of the Woman's Club of Brockton, Brockton Public Library, Brockton, MA, 1915, no. 29
1916
(Solo exhibition), Wheeler Memorial Library, Orange, MA, 1916.
1919
Exhibition of Paintings by Marion Powers Kirkpatrick and Mary B. Titcomb, Brockton Public Library, Brockton, MA 1919.
1998
Mary Bradish Titcomb and Her Contemporaries, Vose Galleries, Boston, 1998, no. 1, repro.
2013
Pictures by M. Bradish Titcomb, Copley Gallery, Boston, 1913, no. 6
Inscriptions
lower right: signed