At the Opera (Primary Title)
Seymour Joseph Guy, American, 1824 - 1910 (Artist)
A complex layering of rich colors, meticulously applied with invisible brushwork, is glazed to an elegant sheen in this portrait of an operagoer. Captured in rapt attention, the young lady is a creature of refinement—her upswept tresses bound with a velvet band, her pearls draped casually about her porcelain neck, her shoulders framed in fur. The white-gloved hands, gently poised around oyster-veneered glasses, reveal lessons in deportment. Behind her, clever trompe-l’oeil achieves the illusion of marble, recalling the artist’s early career producing architectural “effects” for London buyers. Guy’s Victorian style of academic painting was at odds with the developing impressionist movement.
At lower left: SJGuy / 1887
James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection
"American Art from the McGlothlin Collection" Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1 May - 18 July 2010).
"Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist & Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (19 May-18 September, 2005).
"Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist & Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection," Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (19 May-18 September, 2005).
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
