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Une Francaise, Portrait of Mrs. Adeline Harold Pynchon
Details
Boris Dmitrievich Grigor'ev (1886-1939)
Une Francaise, Portrait of Mrs. Adeline Harold Pynchon
signed and dated 'Boris Grigoriev 1924' (lower right)
oil on canvas
28¾ x 23½ in. (73 x 59.7 cm.)
Painted in 1924
Une Francaise, Portrait of Mrs. Adeline Harold Pynchon
signed and dated 'Boris Grigoriev 1924' (lower right)
oil on canvas
28¾ x 23½ in. (73 x 59.7 cm.)
Painted in 1924
Provenance
Collection of Adeline Atwater (Pynchon), circa 1924.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 1975.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, circa 1975.
Exhibited
Galleria Pesaro, Milan, January 1926.
Further details
Mrs. Harold C. Pynchon (1887-1975), born Adeline Lobdell, was an accomplished writer, influential art dealer and avid art collector. As a young woman she traveled widely before her marriage to Henry Atwater and settling in Washington, D.C. After her divorce in 1920, Adeline Atwater moved to New York to become director of the New Gallery, which specialized in modern art. In that capacity she had a successful ten-year career managing several galleries and acting as a curator for individual artists' exhibitions. She was instrumental in bringing Boris Grigor'ev to America and was involved in organizing several exhibitions of the artist's works (April 6-28, 1923; November 18 - December 15, 1923; December 5 - January 2, 1925. For a number of years the New Gallery was representing the artist, securing commissions, and promoting Grigor'ev's work. A. Adeline Atwater became Grigor'ev's friend, confidant, and the most devoted art agent. Later, in her unpublished memoirs entitled Autobiography of an Extravert she left a vivid description of Boris Grigor'ev's life in New York, his work and social life, and her personal friendship with B. Grigor'ev: "I felt more or less, mostly more, responsible for him. He had no practical sense and was vastly extravagant.' In 1932 Atwater married Harold C. Pynchon and began concentrating on her writing, charitable projects, and her role as president of the Society of Midland Authors.