Henry Lee McFee (1886-1953)
Henry Lee McFee (1886-1953)

Florence Ballin (Mrs. Konrad Cramer)

Details
Henry Lee McFee (1886-1953)
Florence Ballin (Mrs. Konrad Cramer)
signed 'McFee' (lower right)
oil on board
36 x 28 in. (91.4 x 71.1 cm.)
Painted circa 1916.
Provenance
Mr. and Mrs. Konrad Cramer.
Estate of the above.
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York.
Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner, 1996.
Literature
Vassar College, Woodstock: An American Art Colony, 1902-1977, Poughkeepsie, New York, 1977, pp. 125, 127, illustrated (as Portrait of Florence Ballin).
J. Baker, Henry Lee McFee and Formalist Realism in American Still Life, 1923-1936, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 1987, pp. 24-25, fig. 6, illustrated (as Portrait of Florence Ballin).
Exhibited
Venice, Italy, Venice International Exhibition, n.d.
Greensboro, North Carolina, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Spring Loan Show, April 1979.

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Lot Essay

John Baker writes of the present work, "The soft 'puffs' of light in Portrait of Florence Ballin are rhythmically arranged in such a way that a sense of abstract order is conferred on the painting, despite the additional presence of a strong natural light source. This natural light from the window raises the value and diminishes the intensity of the background colors with results that call to mind the pale, coloristically reduced palettes of some Analytic Cubist pictures. Yet despite these effects the picture is no more modernist than Tonalist-Impressionist in its final impact. Portrait of Florence Ballin is thus an early example of McFee's tendency to synthesize differing aesthetic purposes accumulated from styles which inspired him." (Henry Lee McFee and Formalist Realism in American Still Life, 1923-1936, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 1987, p. 25)

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