Late 19th-Century Portrait of a Young Woman

Details

Description

This artwork is an original late 19th-century oil portrait depicting a woman in formal period attire.

MYSTERY: Of special interest, … Read more This artwork is an original late 19th-century oil portrait depicting a woman in formal period attire.

MYSTERY: Of special interest, the subject shares a striking, uncanny resemblance to a young Jane Addams (the famous American social reformer and Hull House cofounder), particularly resembling the famous profile portraits painted of her by artist George de Forest Brush. However, given the explicit pencil inscription on the back, it is highly likely a portrait of an Edith Gordon, or alternatively, a period study or family portrait owned by someone of that name.

STYLE: The painting features a soft, academic style characteristic of late-Victorian portraiture. The woman wears a traditional black dress accented with a delicate, translucent lace collar and a gold pendant on a book-chain link, where small, flattened rectangular metal bars alternate with tiny round loops.

MATERIALS & MARKINGS: The painting is executed on a thin support—most likely academy board or canvas affixed to a rigid panel. Academy boards were incredibly popular for portrait studies and smaller works during the late 1800s due to their thin profile and portability.
The pencil markings on the backing paper reveal a date and a family name. The top line reads "July” and possibly “1890" or “1896.” The main script best reads as "Edith Gordon." Below the name, there are fainter, partially obscured markings that look like "1/4 1/4" or a similar fractional layout, which traditionally denotes either canvas sizing formats or catalog numbering. Your exploration has just begun.

Signature/Maker’s Mark: Nonexistent. See less