Artwork Details
36 x 26 in. (canvas) 43-3/4 x 33 x 3-1/4 in. (framed)
Accession NumberGift of the Friends of American Art
CopyrightAmerican Painting and Sculpture 1800-1945
Color PalettePurchased from the artist by Friends of American Art and donated to the museum.
Portraiture constituted a great portion of the training at Munich’s Royal Academy, where Forsyth spent six years. Bravura brushstrokes in this woman’s time-worn hands and face show the influence of 17th-century Dutch masters Rembrandt and Frans Hals, exemplars studied in the Academy’s painting class.
Forsyth was born in Ohio but moved to Indianapolis as a child. Reportedly the first student to enroll at the Indiana School of Art in 1877, he played an active role in the city’s arts. Forsyth taught at Steele’s private school in Indianapolis, with J. Ottis Adams in Muncie and Fort Wayne, and finally at the John Herron Art School until 1933.
- Forsyth focuses on the timeworn quality of the woman’s hands and facial features.
- This canvas exemplifies the Munich Schools’ dark tonality and bravura brushwork.
- In 1882 William Forsyth traveled to Munich to study at the Royal Academy.
Exhibition Name
Venue
Dates
Hoosier Artists in Munich: The Drawings and Paintings of Adams, Forsyth, Richards and Steele
Indianapolis Museum of Art Columbus Gallery
July 17, 1999 - September 26, 1999
Hoosiers Abroad: The Munich Paintings of Adams, Forsyth, Richards and Steele
Indianapolis Museum of Art
September 13, 1997 - October 4, 1998
William Forsyth, Last Fifty Years
John Herron Art Institute and Museum
October 14, 1934 - November 19, 1934
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