Dodge MacKnight (Providence, 1860 - 1950, Sandwich, Massachusetts)
The Road to Córdoba, Mexico, 1907
Watercolor on paper , 37 x 55 cm (14 9/16 x 21 5/8 in.)
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This is a horizontal watercolor on paper painting of a road in Mexico. There is a structure on our right, which appears to be a home. It is orange, light blue and tan with a white roof. A woman wearing a pink top and blue skirt stands in the doorway. She appears to be handing something to a child, who stands in front of her. They both have dark hair and medium skin. The child wears a light blue shirt and short pants with black shoes. Dark blue, purple and yellow trees rise above the house. To our right in the foreground, a medium-skinned man wearing a large-brimmed tan hat and white suit walks by. To our left is a pink and light green road that extends into the distance. There are two figures facing away from us on the road; one wears a blue top and a long white skirt and carries a large basket on their head. There is a smaller indistinct figure next to them. Vibrant green trees rise uphill to the left of the road. Various buildings are along the road; some white with colored roofs and others are blue, purple and pink. The cloud-filled sky is light blue. This painting is signed in blue ink by Dodge Macknight in the lower left corner. The painting is surrounded by a thick, white mat and a narrow white frame.
Macknight Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner and the artist Dodge Macknight had a shared love for Spanish speaking cultures. Both visited Mexico—Isabella by train in 1881 and Macknight in 1907—when he painted this watercolor of Córdoba. On his trip, Macknight wrote to Isabella, “I’m in the Tropics, the banana leaves wave over me as I walk in deep blue shadows; the hibiscus and the bougainvillea, and vines with flowers of many hues all make a tangle…”
The painting likely reminded Isabella of the landscapes she saw in Mexico, and she purchased it at the art gallery Doll and Richards in Boston when it was exhibited a year later. Over the course of her friendship with Dodge Macknight, Isabella acquired eleven of his paintings and named the Macknight Room after him.