| National Gallery of Art

Animations:

Visit
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Must-Sees at the National Gallery

Make the most of your visit
Learn more
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
West to East

Discover how artists across America have been inspired by the places they call home.
Start the series

Open 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Visit
Admission is always free

6th and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

Must-Sees at the National Gallery

Make the most of your visit
Learn more
Exhibitions & Events
America’s 250th

Celebrating American art and artists
Art & Artists
West to East

Discover how artists across America have been inspired by the places they call home.
Start the series

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Dryad, 1935

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Madison Square, Snow, 1904

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Family Group, 1910/1911

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Wisconsin, 1936

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: An Architectural Fantasy, c. 1670

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Pumpkins, 1941

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: The Politicians, c. 1912

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Café du Dôme, 1925/1926

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

American Paintings, 1900–1945: Sweet Tremulous Leaves, 1922/1923

by:

Robert Torchia

Scholarly Article

Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: A Lady Writing, c. 1665

Shown from about the knees up, a pale, smooth-skinned woman in a fur-lined yellow jacket looks out at us as she sits writing at a table in this vertical painting. The woman’s body faces the table to our left. She turns her head to gaze at us from the corners of her dark gray eyes under faint brows. She has a wide nose, and her pale lips are closed. Her light brown hair is pulled back and held in place with white bows, and gleaming teardrop-shaped pearl earrings dangle from her ears. Her lemon-yellow jacket is trimmed with ermine fur, which is white with black speckles, at the cuffs and down the front opening. A full, elephant-gray skirt falls to the floor beneath the jacket. Both hands rest on the table, and she holds a quill in her right hand, farther from us, on a piece of paper. She leans forward in her wooden chair. The back panel of the chair is covered in black fabric and lined with brass studs. Two gilded finials, carved into lions’ heads, face the woman’s back with mouths open. The table is covered with a celestial-blue cloth crumpled near the left edge of the canvas. On the table are a strand of pearls, a pale yellow ribbon, and a black box with three brown panels studded with pearls around silver keyholes. Two pewter gray vessels are visible just beyond it, in front of a second chair, which faces us. On the putty-gray wall behind the woman, a framed painting hangs in the upper left quadrant of the composition. The painting-within-the painting is done in muted tones of brown and shows a cello and other unidentifiable objects.