Celia's Arbor

Lilian Westcott Hale

ca. 1910 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

A leading American Impressionist working at the turn of the twentieth century, Lilian Westcott Hale is associated with the genteel Boston School. Her subjects are typical of that group—upper-class domestic settings populated by women and children. Best known for her vaporous charcoal and graphite drawings, Hale brought a similar touch to her paintings, working in subtly modulated strokes with contrasting highlights. "Celia’s Arbor," which retains its original Stanford White-designed frame, has been described as capturing the "elusive mystery of suffused sunlight." It was exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, held in San Francisco in 1915.

Artist

Lilian Westcott Hale

Date

ca. 1910

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1924