Object details

Accession number

4.2.o.153

Primary Creator

Anders Zorn (Mora, 1860 - 1920, Mora)

Full title

Reading (Mr. and Mrs. Charles Deering)

Creation Date

1893

State

III/III

Provenance

Gift from Anders Zorn to Isabella Stewart Gardner after 1893.

Marks

Signed and dated on plate (lower right corner): Zorn 189[3]
Inscribed in pencil (lower margin): till Isabella S. Gardner den Stora från Zorn

Dimensions

23.8 x 15.9 cm (9 3/8 x 6 1/4 in.)

Display Media

Etching

Dimension Notes

Frame: 52.7 x 41.1 cm (20 3/4 x 16 3/16 in.)

Web Commentary

This intimate domestic scene of Marion Deering reading to her husband is one of Zorn’s finest double portraits. Wearing a bandage to conceal an eye injury, Charles Deering sits in the background listening intently and smoking a pipe. A wealthy Chicago businessman, Deering shares the title of Anders Zorn’s greatest American patron and friend with Isabella Gardner. Like Gardner, Deering first met Zorn at the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair, and started collecting his work on the spot.

Source: Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America, special exhibition on view in the museum's Hostetter Gallery, February 28 – May, 2013.

Permanent Gallery Location

Short Gallery

Bibliography

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