Mary Eliza Dixon | Charcoal Portrait of an Eastern Man | Dated 1887 | American Academic Drawing | Documented Provenance

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Description

A superb and fully documented 19th-century American academic charcoal drawing by Mary Eliza Dixon, dated 1887 and created at the … Read more A superb and fully documented 19th-century American academic charcoal drawing by Mary Eliza Dixon, dated 1887 and created at the Randolph Academy, Randolph, New York.
The subject is a bearded man of Eastern appearance — perhaps Moroccan or North African — depicted in three-quarter profile with an animated upward gaze. He wears a wrapped turban and draped robes rendered with extraordinary attention to light and fabric weight. The drawing demonstrates professional academic training: the beard is built up in layered charcoal with fine individual strands, the eye holds reflected light with precision, and the drapery folds are observed and rendered with the assurance of formal atelier study.
The work is pencil signed lower right and presented in its original black painted wood frame, glazed in 1966 by the artist's family. A handwritten label on the verso reads in full: "The charcoal sketch was painted in 1887 by Mary Eliza Dixon (mother of Eleanor Trisman) at the Randolph Academy — in Randolph, N.Y. Framed Oct. 29, 1966."
This documented chain of family provenance — from artist to daughter to present — is rare for works of this period.
Details:

Medium: Charcoal on paper
Frame dimensions: 16¾" H × 21¼" W × 1" D
Artwork dimensions: 14" H × 18" W
Signed lower right in pencil
Dated 1887 (verso label)
Condition: Some foxing to paper; minor frame scrapes

An outstanding example of American academic realism — documented, dated, and beautifully drawn. See less