The Front Parlor

Details

WILLIAM MCGREGOR PAXTON (1869-1941)
The Front Parlor
signed and dated 'Paxton-1913.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
27 x 22 in. (68.6 x 55.9 cm.)
Painted in 1913.

Provenance

The artist.
Estate of the above.
Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts.
Cora E. Ludwig and Edward Mallinckrodt Sr., acquired from the above.
Bequest to the present owner from the above, 1974.

Literature

The Christian Science Monitor, November 19, 1941, illustrated.
Pictures on Exhibit, vol. 3, December 1941, p. 27, illustrated.
Worcester Evening Gazette, November 14, 1942.
The Christian Science Monitor, December 11, 1946, p. 12, illustrated.
C. Davidson, "Boston Painters, Boston Ladies," American Heritage, vol. XXIII, April 3, 1972, pp. 14-15, illustrated.
C.E. Buckley, "The Front Parlor by William McGregor Paxton," Saint Louis Art Museum Bulletin, 1975, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 105-07.
Antiques, vol. 114, 1978, p. 1158.
D. Lesko, E. Persson, Gari Melchers: A Retrospective Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, Saint Petersburg, Florida, 1990, p. 119, fig. 36, illustrated.
Communication Explosion: Choices in Literature, Bronze, Belmont, California, 1997, p. 118.

Exhibited

Baltimore, Maryland, Peabody Institute, 5th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art under the Auspices of the Charcoal Club, 1914.
Boston, Massachusetts, Copley Gallery, 1914.
Haverhill, Massachusetts, Bradford Academy, 1914.
Lowell, Massachusetts, Lowell Art Association, Whistler House, 1914.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Art Club of Philadelphia, Annual Exhibition of Oils by Members, 1915-16.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Rosenbach Company, Paintings by William McGregor Paxton, 1918, no. 2.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, William McGregor Paxton, N.A., 1941, p. 18, no. 15, illustrated.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late William McGregor Paxton, N.A., 1942, no. 10.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, The Guild of Boston Artists, (1914-1942), 1942, no. 49.
Maryhill, Washington, Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts, William McGregor Paxton, N.A., 1946, illustrated.
Boston, Massachusetts, St. Botolph Club, Eleven Paintings by Paxton, 1958, no. 2.
New York, Graham Gallery, William Paxton, 1967, no. 10, illustrated.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Painters, 1971.
Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art; El Paso, Texas, El Paso Museum of Art; Omaha, Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum; Springfield, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, William McGregor Paxton 1869-1941, August 16, 1978-May 6, 1979, pp. 132-33, no. 32, illustrated.
Seattle, Washington, University of Washington, Henry Art Gallery, American Impressionism, January 3-March 2, 1980, no. 71.
Memphis, Tennessee, Dixon Gallery and Gardens; Youngstown, Ohio, Butler Institute of American Art, William McGregor Paxton and Elizabeth Oakie Paxton: An Artistic Partnership, April 28-November 10, 2019.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The artist's wife Elizabeth modeled for the present work, which was painted during the summer of 1913 in a Victorian house in Hyannis, Massachusetts. According to Charles Buckley, "The Front Parlor, which was painted in 1913, is one of the artist's best known works and it is fully characteristic of his mature style." ("The Front Parlor by William McGregor Paxton," Saint Louis Art Museum Bulletin, vol. 11, no. 6, p. 107)

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