Vase of Flowers

The painting entered the National Gallery of Art collection in 2003 as a partial and promised gift. Prior to this, it had been owned by Paul Lane in Tivoli, New York, and later by William H. and Abigail Booth Gerdts by at least 1966, with the latter lending it for a 1966 exhibition. William Gerdts referenced the work in the context of locating a lost painting by Wright of Derby, as noted in his introduction to the 1998 exhibition catalogue.

The work is part of George Cochran Lambdin's oeuvre, an American painter active in the late 19th century known for still lifes and genre scenes. Its provenance reflects a documented chain of ownership tied to mid-20th-century American art collectors and dealers, with the National Gallery of Art serving as its current institutional home. The painting's classification as an oil on canvas from 1875 aligns with Lambdin's mature period and contributes to scholarly understanding of American still-life development in the post-Civil War era.

George Cochran Lambdin’s 1875 oil on canvas, titled Vase of Flowers, presents a solitary vase placed on a tabletop against a muted, dark backdrop. The composition centers on a modest arrangement of blossoms, primarily in white and pink hues, complemented by green foliage. The vase itself is rendered in a crisp white with subtle blue decorative motifs, contributing to the work’s restrained visual balance.

The painting captures a simple, yet intimate still life, focusing on the natural elegance of the flowers and their organic placement. By allowing stems and leaves to extend beyond the rim of the vase, Lambdin suggests a sense of spontaneity and the gentle encroachment of nature into the domestic sphere, inviting quiet contemplation of everyday beauty.