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A Gentlewoman
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In A Gentlewoman, J. Alden Weir depicted a well-dressed young woman in a moment of personal reflection. She rests lightly on a chair with her eyes cast downward, completely unaware of the viewer. A contemporary critic praised this woman for her "mixture of sturdiness and charm," qualities valued in turn-of-the-century gentlewomen. In the early twentieth century, modernization brought on by steam power and railroads caused feelings of anxiety among many Americans. To help alleviate such feelings, artists created images like these of quiet interior scenes, a visually soothing antidote to an unquiet age.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineA Gentlewoman. 1906. J. Alden Weir, born West Point, NY 1852-died New York City 1919. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans. CC0.
