Artwork
Dutch Woman
Dutch Woman is a watercolor work on paper by the American Impressionist artist Marcia Oakes Woodbury. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 1976.241
- Credit line
- Gift of Joan Hartman, 1976
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The combination of cap, shawl, and apron functions as the primary iconographic content, communicating heritage and social role through clothing alone.
Marcia Oakes Woodbury's 1894 watercolor Dutch Woman presents a single female sitter outfitted in three traditional garments that anchor the work's identity as a character study of Dutch vernacular dress. The figure wears a white cap, a shawl draped over the shoulders, and an apron covering the front of her clothing. Together these accessories signal the sitter's cultural affiliation and evoke the everyday domestic attire associated with rural or working-class Dutch women of the period.
By focusing on costume rather than a specific named individual, Woodbury frames the subject as a representative type rather than a formal portrait of a particular person. The combination of cap, shawl, and apron functions as the primary iconographic content, communicating heritage and social role through clothing alone.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in watercolor and gouache with graphite on wove paper, measuring 40.2 by 25.1 centimeters. It portrays a Dutch woman wearing an apron, cap, and shawl. The piece belongs to the portrait genre and is part of The American Wing collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
History & Provenance
Dutch Woman was created in 1894 by Marcia Oakes Woodbury, executed in watercolor, gouache, and graphite on wove paper. The work entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified within The American Wing as a portrait. No further details regarding commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition history are documented in the available sources.
The painting measures 40.2 cm in height by 25.1 cm in width and is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The artwork Dutch Woman by Marcia Oakes Woodbury is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is classified within the museum's American Wing and was created in 1894. The piece is executed in watercolor, gouache, and graphite on wove paper, with dimensions of 40.2 cm in height and 25.1 cm in width.
The provided sources do not contain specific accession numbers, inventory identifiers, or a record of the work's exhibition history.
Context
Marcia Oakes Woodbury's 1894 watercolor portrait Dutch Woman was exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and later entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in 1921. Scholars have noted its departure from conventional portraiture through the intimate domestic portrayal of the artist's daughter, reflecting broader late 19th-century American artistic interests in familial subjects and vernacular detail. The work's composition, featuring an apron, cap, and shawl, has been discussed in relation to contemporary costume studies and the representation of women's domestic labor in American art.
Its acquisition by the Met in 1921 marked significant institutional recognition of early American watercolor portraiture within The American Wing.
Overview
Marcia Oakes Woodbury’s 1894 work, titled Dutch Woman, is executed in watercolor, gouache, and graphite on wove paper. The composition presents a solitary female figure dressed in a white cap, blue apron, and shawl, her hands folded and gaze directed downward. Soft illumination highlights the contours of her face and the drapery, creating a calm, intimate atmosphere.
Artist & collection
Artist
Marcia Oakes Woodbury (1865–1913) was an artist, born in South Berwick.
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