Noble Peasant

Enjoy this stunning painting by artist Elizabeth Nourse.

This coarse-featured peasant girl and her little brother stand atop a dune. She wears a sand-colored skirt, and her reddened face, arms, and hands betray her hardy, outdoor existence. Heroically posed to resemble a ship's figurehead, the fisher girl is noble, strong, protective, and independent.

An expatriate who spent most of her life in France, Nourse was intensely religious. She cared deeply about her models, helping them and their families in any way she could. Such charity is reflected in this work, with its monumentality and human insight.

Source: Richard Murray. The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).

Pictured: Elizabeth Nourse, 1859 USA–1938 France, Fisher Girl of Picardy, 1889, oil, 46 3/4 x 32 3/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Pilling.