Lilian Westcott Hale: ‘Floretta’

Lilian Westcott Hale, American, 1881 – 1963 Floretta [Portrait of Agnes Doggett, Later Mrs. Charles Ruddy], ca. 1914 Black chalk over charcoal and graphite on cream laminated drawing board 74.1 x 58.5 cm (29 3/16 x 23 1/16 in.) frame: 97 × 82 × 5.5 cm (38 3/16 × 32 5/16 × 2 3/16 in.) Gift of the Friends of The Art Museum

‘Floretta’, or ‘Portrait of Agnes Doggett’

A member of the Boston School of Impressionists, Hale focused on capturing the diffusion of natural light in domestic interior scenes and portraits of women in elaborate dress. Here the sitter is Agnes Doggett, a neighbor who frequently posed as a model for Hale—at twenty-five cents an hour, to help defray the costs of her college education. As the original title, Floretta, denotes, the floral motif of the wallpaper is transposed onto the young woman, whose features emerge from amid petal-like ruffles at her collar and sleeve. This ethereal drawing displays the distinctive technique Hale developed to create an effect similar to silverpoint. Having used sandpaper to file her charcoal sticks to fine points, Hale drew in small vertical stitches…Princeton University Art Museum

Princeton University Art Museum, Lilian Westcott Hale, Floretta [Portrait of Agnes Doggett, Later Mrs. Charles Ruddy], ca. 1914, http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/11442 , (accessed 21 Nov 2018).

Thanks for visiting! 🙂

~Sunnyside

15 Comments Add yours

    1. One of my all time favorites. Thanks for visiting, Rosaliene. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  1. Mary Ann says:

    Lovely artwork.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. blackbird212012 says:

    Th idea comes to me that of a picture drawn by butterfly’s

    Liked by 1 person

    1. What perfect description! When I zoom in and study the tiny vertical markings, I wonder how on earth she produced drawings like this. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, blackbird. 🙂

      Like

  3. She looks like my older sister who is an artist among other things.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. The drawing appears reversed at

    I tried learning more about the model, Agnes Doggett Ruddy but didn’t find much. She seems to have also been the model for “Agnes with Chain,” which I didn’t find a picture of.

    I did turn up her husband’s obituary:
    https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53750830/obituary-for-charles-o-ruddy/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. How interesting! Thanks for the links, Steve. 🙂

      Like

    2. Oh, I do sometimes flip photos so they display properly on my homepage.

      Like

      1. And I sometimes flip myself around to get a proper angle for a photograph.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. rothpoetry says:

    I love this one. There is something very intriguing about the young girl!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I agree, Dwight. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. rothpoetry says:

        You are welcome!

        Liked by 1 person

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