Lot 167: Maria Howard Weeden W/C Portrait of a Young Woman

Maria Howard Weeden (Alabama, 1846-1905) watercolor on card portrait painting of a young woman shown in bust-length, three-quarters view. She wears a blue and brown head covering and gold earring and looks to her left. Signed “Weeden,” lower left. Framed under glass in a painted wooden frame with a white mat and gold reveal. Card: 8 7/8 in. H x 6 7/8 in. W. Sight: 4 3/8 in. x 4 3/8 in. Framed: 14 3/4 in. x 14 3/4 in. Biographical Note: Maria Howard Weeden was born in 1847 in Huntsville, Alabama, the youngest of six siblings. She showed artistic talent at an early age and was encouraged by her mother, who took her to study with William Frye, a well-known Southern portrait painter living in Huntsville at the time. She also studied art at the Huntsville Female Seminary. However, the Weeden family was financially ruined in the wake of the Civil War, and she was unable to pursue more formal training or visit places like Europe to find subject matter. As Martha Severens writes in “150 Years of Watercolor,” “Her sitters were generally members of her community who were former slaves serving as cooks, nannies, and gardeners. At a time when many artists were caricaturing African Americans, Weeden preferred to render more dignified and uplifting portraits. After visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where she encountered many caustic images of the Uncle Remus variety, she resolved to pursue a different direction. She later recalled: ‘Then and there I awoke to the realization that right around me was a subject of supremest artistic interest, the old ex-slave, who henceforth became theme for my muse and model for my brush.” ” It is said that a combination of her nearsightedness and using brushes with only 3 hairs for painting allowed her to capture delicate details. Weeden did not use her first name on her works, preferring to sign them “Howard Weeden”. Her childhood home in Huntsville is now the Weeden House Museum and contains many of her works. Most of her subjects never commissioned these portraits, so she never found great commercial success. She also published four books of poetry with accompanying illustrations.

CONDITION:

Overall very good condition within sight area. Card is adhered to mat. Upper layer of card is lifting at upper left, outside of image and without loss. Approximately 1/2 inch-long area of lifting to card visible within sight area.