Little Marion

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TitleLittle Marion

Artist Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk (1856 - 1935)

Daten.d.

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 14 3/4 x 15 1/2 in. Framed: 22 1/8 x 23 1/8 x 1 7/8 in.

SignedSigned upper right: "Douglas Volk"

SubmissionNA diploma presentation, March 14, 1900

Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY

Object number1350-P

Label TextThis painting was originally titled Little Maid in White upon its showing at the National Academy’s annual exhibition of 1895. The work features Volk's daughter Marion, who was born in 1888 and was named after the artist's wife Marion Larrabee. Marion frequently served as her father’s model, and went on to assist her mother in running the Sabatos Handicraft Society in Center Lovell, Maine, and to become an accomplished weaver. Volk studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris in the 1870s, and established his career in later decades by creating romanticized historical subjects picturing life in Colonial America, especially scenes of Puritan society in 17th century New England. During the 1890s he also painted more personal figure compositions featuring children in an outdoor setting. His works were critically admired at the time for their strong draftsmanship and modeling, as well as their refinement of method and execution.