Katharine N. Rhoades

Marius de Zayas

ca. 1915 · Charcoal and graphite on paper, mounted on paperboard · Modern and Contemporary Art

This lush drawing reflects de Zayas's mastery of the charcoal medium. Within a single composition, he combined delicate weblike lines with dense black, heavily applied areas of charcoal, while injecting a subtle range of black and gray tones through smudges and erasures. Katharine Nash Rhoades was an American beauty who caught Stieglitz's eye during her many visits to 291 and who was one of the few female painters to show there. In January–February 1915 she and Marion Beckett had a joint exhibition at the gallery. De Zayas's charcoal renderings of both women (see Beckett's portrait, MMA 49.70.189) probably date from that year and were two of his last abstract caricatures. Although the dating is speculative, the Rhoades drawing was done prior to May 1915, when 291 published a variation on its composition with poems by Rhoades and Agnes Meyer. In June 1915 Stieglitz took several photographs of Rhoades, arm bent in an elegant V across her chest, that paid homage to de Zayas's drawing.

Artist

Marius de Zayas

Date

ca. 1915

Medium

Charcoal and graphite on paper, mounted on paperboard

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949