The Canary

Maker William McGregor Paxton (American, 1869-1941)

Collections

American Paintings Selections

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Date1913

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions16 x 14 in. (40.6 x 35.6 cm.) frame: 26 1/4 × 24 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (66.7 × 61.6 × 6.4 cm.)

SignedSigned upper left: "Paxton"

InscribedThe Foster Brothers frame is identified on a label, verson, as "Frame Design #4712-1938."

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds provided by Anne and Jim Rothenberg for the Acquisition of American Art

Status

On view

Label TextWilliam McGregor Paxton was a member of the Boston School, a group of academically trained painters who worked in Massachusetts and New England during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The subject, composition, and lighting of this painting reflect Paxton's interest in the work of seventeenth-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. The vase and pattern of the woman's robe demonstrate the popularity of East Asian imports in affluent American households of the time. Here, Paxton uses the language of Japonisme to depict the cloistered female subject, echoed by the canary in its gilded cage.

Object number2007.13