Technique

The light red of the background, and of Lillie's cap and glove, is set off by the fluffy pink/lila and white/grey of her blouse. The face, hair, and background, are smoothly and softly painted and finished. Calligraphic flicks of a narrow brush create what appear to be several dark red necklaces. The dress is painted boldly but the arms are roughly sketched and appear unfinished. The original outline of Lillie's hat and hair are clearly visible to the left of her head. There are drips of paint over her arms at lower right.

Conservation History

According to the Freer Gallery of Art curatorial files, it was lightly cleaned in 1921, relined and resurfaced in 1925, surface in 1933, cleaned and surface in 1951. In 1865 Ben Johnson noted that retouching on the face had turned white, and the thick layer of varnish was discoloured. It was cleaned, re-stretched onto a new stretcher, revarnished and inpainted.

Frame

A Grau-style frame, dating from the early 1900s. 1