Lot 378: Thomas Wilmer Dewing (American, 1851-1938), The Duet, alternatively titled The Interlude, Signed "T W Dewing" l.r., identified on label

Thomas Wilmer Dewing (American, 1851-1938)

The Duet, alternatively titled The Interlude
Signed "T W Dewing" l.r., identified on labels from the Paul Magriel Collection,
Museums at Sunrise, Charleston, West Virginia, and Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York.
Oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm), framed.
Condition: Lined, scattered retouch and varnish inconsistencies.
Exhibitions: "A Gathering of Friends: Early Artists of the Cornish Colony," Cornish Colony Museum, Windsor, Vermont, May 26-October 28, 2007; "Art & Entertainment- From Toulouse-Lautrec to Red Grooms," Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, New York, November 18, 2007-February 3, 2008.
N.B. Thomas Wilmer Dewing, a Boston native and founding member of the Impressionist artists' group The Ten, is best known for his refined and poetic figural works which challenge conceptions of beauty, femininity, and women's role in society. Dewing played with elements of ambiguity, intimacy and isolation within his subtle compositions. His dreamlike images feature ethereal women bathed in light who stand in contrast to their bare, shadowed environment. These wispy figures, emerging out of the simple background, are weighted by their full skirts which contrast their elongated necks, shoulders, and arms. Later in his career, Dewing began to play with the spatial relationship between two figures within a composition, as he does here. He exploited the distance between two women "using the expanse between [them] to suggest subtle psychological tensions." (1) These compositions underscore Dewing's attempt to create a mood of aloofness and separation. Perhaps borrowing from Johannes Vermeer's compositions, Dewing used symbolic objects in his compositions to create mood and activate the viewer's imagination. (2) He frequently depicted women with musical instruments which create an "emotional atmosphere and sense of reverie" (3) (1) Hobbs, Susan A. The Art of Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Beauty Reconfigured (The Brooklyn Museum). 1996. p 175. (2) ibid. p 35. (3) ibid. p 195.