Passing Song

Albert Pinkham Ryder, Passing Song, before 1902, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.103
Albert Pinkham Ryder, Passing Song, before 1902, oil on wood, 8 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄8 in. (21.6 x 11.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.103
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Artwork Details

Title
Passing Song
Artist
Date
before 1902
Location
Dimensions
8 1⁄2 x 4 3⁄8 in. (21.6 x 11.1 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on wood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Literature — Ryder — Passing Song
  • Performing arts — music — voice
  • Landscape — coast
  • Landscape — water
  • Waterscape — boat
  • Figure female
Object Number
1929.6.103
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1929.6.103

Artwork Description

In the mid-1890s, Albert Pinkham Ryder was infatuated with a voice he heard in his apartment building. He found the woman who was singing and immediately asked her to marry him. His friends intervened, saying that the woman was unsuitable, but Ryder immortalized the event by painting images of beautiful women bewitching men with their songs. In Passing Song the sailor wants to approach the woman but is unable to turn his rudderless boat as it drifts away with the current. This helpless figure probably symbolizes the artist, who felt passionately about women and fell in love easily, but never married. (Broun, Albert Pinkham Ryder, 1989)

Works by this artist (32 items)

View all artworks
Albert Pinkham Ryder, The Lorelei, ca. 1896 - 1917, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tulip Tree Foundation, Robin B. Martin, Trustee, 2011.8
The Lorelei
Artist
Dateca. 1896 - 1917
oil on canvas
On view
Albert Pinkham Ryder, The Lovers' Boat, ca. 1881, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alastair B. Martin, 2005.14
The Lovers’ Boat
Artist
Dateca. 1881
oil on wood
On view
Albert Pinkham Ryder, Lord Ullin's Daughter, before 1907, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.101
Lord Ullin’s Daughter
Artist
Datebefore 1907
oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
On view
Albert Pinkham Ryder, Florizel and Perdita, by 1887, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.94
Florizel and Perdita
Artist
Dateby 1887
oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
On view

Audio

Stop 135: Passing Song

Passing Song
about 1840, oil on canvas

ALBERT PINKHAM RYDER
Born: New Bedford, Massachusetts 1847– Died: New York, New York 1917

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