Unknown Artist - Girl in the Wood
Unknown artist
Girl in the Wood, undated
OIL ON CANVAS, 13 ½ x 11 inches
Gift of Mrs. Theodora Willard Best
This idealized depiction of a young girl collecting a bouquet of flowers in a wooded landscape suggests a portrait, though the identity of the sitter, like that of the artist, is unknown. The girl's schematic facial features, her billowy dress, and the generic treatment of the forest background all suggest that the artist was likely a local or itinerant portraitist, for whom flattery of the sitter was often more important than accuracy.