One of the Figures at the Parterre d’Eau

Media - 1974.69.4 - SAAM-1974.69.4_1 - 46094
Copied Carroll Beckwith, One of the Figures at the Parterre d'Eau, ca. 1911 or 1913, oil on wood, 10 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 in. (26.7 x 21.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.4
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Artwork Details

Title
One of the Figures at the Parterre d’Eau
Artist
Date
ca. 1911 or 1913
Location
Dimensions
10 1⁄2 x 8 1⁄2 in. (26.7 x 21.6 cm.)
Markings
signed lower left in oil: carroll beckwith--versailles oct:
Credit Line
Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums Description
oil on wood
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure
  • Monument — statue
  • Figure female — nude
  • Landscape — France — Versailles
  • Monument — fountain — Parterre d’Eau
Object Number
1974.69.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1974.69.4

Artwork Description

Carroll Beckwith painted this work on one of his two trips to Versailles, France, where he created about twenty-two paintings of garden statues. This painting was an outdoor study, which allowed Beckwith to focus on the colorful effects of light on the sculpture and the landscape. The greenish tint of the statue may also be the result of its deterioration. When Beckwith was in France, the government had recognized the dilapidation of the once glorious palace, and was moving to restore Versailles to its original splendor. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917), 1999)

Luce Object Quote

“[I] am now thinking of Versailles and wondering if I cannot paint something there in the park that would be interesting.” Carroll Beckwith, 1911, quoted in Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917), 1999