The Open Window

1917

Frank Weston Benson

Associated Names
Frank Weston Benson

Painter, American, 1862 - 1951

This painting shows a woman from the side, sitting in a wooden chair. She is positioned in the center of the painting, her body and head facing the right. She has pale skin, and her dark, red-brown hair is neatly pulled back into a bun. She is dressed in a long, cream-colored dress with a colorful, long-sleeved jacket with a lace collar draped over her upper body. The jacket is in shades of purple, green, teal, and bright orange. She holds two long, thin needles in her hands which are connected to a dark shape on her lap and a thin, dark thread that goes over her knees and down onto the floor. In the background there are two large windows with open shutters and an oval mirror between them. Under the mirror is a wooden dresser with a brown sculpture on top of it, and to the right is a small round table with a blue tablecloth and a basket of flowers. A wooden chair with a red cushion is placed against the wall on the left. The walls are pale blue, and the wooden floors are brown, reflecting light from the windows. The sky beyond the windows is light blue and yellow, with small white clouds.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase)

  • Dimensions

    overall: 132.4 × 107.16 cm (52 1/8 × 42 3/16 in.)
    framed: 150.81 × 125.73 × 6.67 cm (59 3/8 × 49 1/2 × 2 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2015.19.11

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; purchased 20 December 1919 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1917

  • Eleventh Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 12 May - 17 September 1917, no. 13.

  • Twentieth Annual Exhibition: Ten American Painters, Montross Gallery, New York, 6-24 March 1917, no. 1.

1919

  • Seventh Exhibition: Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 December 1919 - 25 January 1920, no. 186.

1920

  • Paintings, Etchings and Drawings by Frank W. Benson, Guild of Boston Artists, 5-17 April 1920, no. 11.

1921

  • Paintings, Etchings and Drawings by Frank W. Benson, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 24 March -13 April 1921. no. 25.

1924

  • Paintings, Etchings, Watercolors, by Frank E. Benson, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 4 January - 15 February 1924, no. 38.

1938

  • Frank W. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbell: Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 16 November - 15 December 1938, no. 27.

1957

  • Twenty-fifth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Toledo Museum of Art, 1957, no. 7.

1979

  • Two American Impressionists: Frank W. Benson and Edmund C. Tarbell, University Art Galleries of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, 1979, unnumbered cat.

1986

  • The Bostonians: Painters of an Elegant Age, 1870-1930, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Denver Art Museum; Terra Museum of American Art, 1986-1987, no. 74, repro.

1989

  • Frank W. Benson: A Retrospective, Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 1989, no. 43.

1998

  • The Forty-Fifth Biennial: The Corcoran Collects, 1907–1998, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 17 July - 29 September 1998, unnumbered catalogue.

2002

  • The Gilded Cage: Views of American Women, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 2002, unpublished checklist.

2003

  • The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, 2003-2004, unpublished checklist.

2005

  • Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no.66.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.

2009

  • American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June -18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.

2013

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

Bibliography

2011

  • Larkin, Susan G. "Frank Weston Benson, The Open Window." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 216-217, 279, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: F. W. Benson / 1917

Wikidata ID

Q46633704

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