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A woman grasps the shoulder of a young man as he looks up at her, standing next to each other.

The woman stands on the right, her head leans in towards the boy on the left, she’s taller than him and is dressed in late nineteenth century dress. We see both faces from a view that’s slightly looking up at them, they’re draw from the chest up. The woman’s right hand on the boy’s shoulder has long slender fingers. A second darker and even bonier right hand touches the back of the boy’s head from the shadows. The swirling background is dark and undefined. It’s a horizontal drawing with decorative boarders on left and right.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1942.13
People
John La Farge, American (New York, NY 1835 - 1910 Providence, RI)
Title
The Child Magnetized by the Nurse, for "The Turn of the Screw"
Other Titles
Alternate Title: The Turn of the Screw
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1898
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/307845

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and white gouache on off-white card
Dimensions
24.3 x 54.2 cm (9 9/16 x 21 5/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: black ink, l.r.: La Farge 98
  • inscription: verso of right section, graphite: La Farge / do not mount this / A 1 1/4 2322 oak gold / [mat?] for (face) / gold / 8 7/8 x 21 1/8 / + 1/8 [ ]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Doll and Richards, Boston, MA, 1900; estate of John La Farge, New York, NY, 1910; sold to Mrs. Schuyler N. Warren (Alice Binsse) through American Art Association Sale, March 29-31, 1911; sold to Scott and Fowles, 1924; sold to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, NY, 1924; his gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1942.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Grenville L. Winthrop, Class of 1886
Accession Year
1942
Object Number
1942.13
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Descriptions

Description
The support is composed of three joined sheets: the center panel and each wing.

Publication History

  • Henry James, "The Turn of the Screw", Collier's Weekly (January 27, 1898), vol. 20, no. 17, ill. p. 20
  • James L. Yarnall, John La Farge, A Biographical and Critical Study, Ashgate Publishing (Burlington, VT, 2012), pp. xii, 205, repr. p. 205 as fig. 8.1

Exhibition History

  • Exhibition and Private Sale of Paintings in Water Color Chiefly from South Sea Islands and Japan by Mr. John La Farge, Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston, 03/18/1898 - 03/30/1898
  • Catalogue of Works by John La Farge, Montross Gallery, New York, 01/24/1901 - 02/23/1901; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 03/27/1901 - 04/10/1901
  • One Hundredth Anniversary Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 01/23/1905 - 03/04/1905
  • Paintings and Drawings by John La Farge, Seattle Fine Arts Association, Seattle, 01/04/1909 - 01/16/1909
  • Exhibition of Glass, Oil and Water Color Paintings and Sketches by John La Farge, Knoedler & Co. Inc., New York, 02/15/1909 - 02/28/1909
  • Catalogue of Oil and Water Color Paintings and Sketches by John La Farge, Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston, 03/18/1909 - 04/01/1909
  • The Collier Collection of Original Drawings and Paintings by Distinguished American Painters and Illustrators, Grand Rapids Public Library, Grand Rapids, 09/07/1915 - 09/21/1915

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu