William de Leftwich Dodge 1867 - 1935
American Impressionist Painter, best known as a Muralist
and Portraitist
Art Nouveau Beauty, circa 1900
oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches
signed, top of stretcher, "Wm de L Dodge"
Condition: Lined (name of sitter was preserved), clean.
in good quality reproduction Art Nouveau frame, outer size
37 x 33 inches
The name of the sitter is inscribed verso -- Charlotte
Pierpont. She is wearing a turn of the century gardening smock, and is painted
in front of a rose bush in full bloom. The Pierpont family has lineage
in New Haven, near where this painting was found. It would make sense that
this lovely gardener was painted in front of a lush rose bush. It not easy
to grow roses in the New Haven area where most land is on ledge. (We know
from experience!)
Robert Kraft, the Pierpont family genealogist comments:
"The name Charlotte appears in the New England Pierpont genealogies.
She is quite possibly Charlotte Pierpont (Brooks.) Her exact dates are
not known, but she was granddaughter to Leonard Pierpont (1819-1874), and
thus perhaps born about 1880. Her father, J. Newton Pierpont, lived for a
time in New Haven. She was apparently still alive in 1953, living in
Vermont. Charlotte Pierpont Brooks was an avid gardener and wrote a
gardening book that was published in 1937. "
William de Leftwich Dodge tried to make a living
painting society portraits, until one distinguished family (not the
Pierponts) made undue demands on him in 1902. After then, the
artist focused on murals, and became one of America's leading muralists.
Please click images for larger photos.
