Nude with Goldfish

Elsie Motz Lowdon, Nude with Goldfish, ca. 1916, watercolor on ivory, sight 4 ³⁄₈ x 6 ⁵⁄₈ in. (11.1 x 16.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alice L. McGowan, 1984.12.2

Artwork Details

Title: Nude with Goldfish
Artist: Elsie Motz Lowdon
Date: ca. 1916
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sight 4 ³⁄₈ x 6 ⁵⁄₈ in. (11.1 x 16.7 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Alice L. McGowan
Mediums: watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor on ivory
Classifications: Painting
Miniature
Subjects: Figure female — nude
Animal — fish — goldfish
Object Number: 1984.12.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1984.12.2

Artwork Description

According to the Atlanta Constitution newspaper in 1928, "It was this miniature which the French government sought for a museum piece, but being a staunch American, Mrs. Lowdon declined to have her masterpiece taken out of America." Elsie Lowdon exhibited this miniature to great acclaim at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1919, and again in Los Angeles in 1928, where it won the popular vote as best miniature and a medal for its technical merits. The following year, Lowdon included it in a show at the High Museum in Atlanta, where it was also singled out as the centerpiece of the show.