Orchard

Abernathy--Orchard@2x.jpg
Abernathy--Orchard@3x.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Description

The title of this painting is paradoxical, since none of the trees depicted appear to be the fruiting varieties usually associated with commercial orchards. Nor is it entitled "Arboretum," a collection of species under a landscaping rubric. Instead, Aberathy asks us to think about the relation between humans—represented in the two figures at lower right—and the fecundity of nature beyond our own definitions.

About the Artist:
Abernathy, Inez. (1873-1956) Born in Summerville, AR, Abernathy studied at the Art Academy in Cincinnati and later in Europe. She supported herself by teaching art and elocution at Belmont College (TN), Stanford Female College (KY), Columbia Female Institute (TN), the University of Arkansas, and the Florida Female College. At this last institution, when a fire broke out Abernathy guided her students to safety rather than saving her own art and equipment; the Florida legislature passed a special bill to help compensate her loss (The Weekly True Democrat 29 Sept 1905: 1). She studied art for a period in Paris, and her painting “Reverie” was shown at the 1902 Salon des artistes français, described by one reporter as “the full-length figure of a girl seated, with a background of dull blues and yellows. A springtime freshness pervades the picture” (San Francisco Chronicle 26 Oct. 1902: 6). Her works were exhibited at the Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, and the National Academy of Design. Two more digital images from FAP.

Creator

Abernathy, Inez, 1873-1956

Publisher

Date

Contributor

Format

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Photograph of oil painting

Physical Dimensions

8 x 10 in.