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In the early 1960s, Charles H. Babcock (1899–1967) gave the house and its contents, presumably including this painting, to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection—Reynolda House, Inc.—on December 18, 1964, with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Notes:
[1] Various sources disagree about Gordon’s birth date, citing 1882, 1888, and 1890.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]
Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Exhibition History
DepartmentHistoric House
Mrs. R.J. Reynolds
Artist
Boris Bernhard Gordon
(1882 - 1976)
Date1921
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 52 7/8 x 44 3/4 in. (134.3 x 113.7 cm)
Canvas: 42 x 34 in. (106.7 x 86.4 cm)
SignedBoris B. Gordon – N.Y. 1921
Credit LineReynolda Estate
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1966.2.97
DescriptionThis portrait by Boris Gordon depicts Katharine Smith Reynolds (1880–1924) sitting in a tapestry chair. [1] Her body is turned away from the picture plane, but she regards the viewer with a pleasant and engaged expression. She wears a bright blue, sleeveless dress adorned with a brooch at the bust. Her dark wavy hair is bobbed, with soft bangs across her forehead. She sits with her legs crossed, and her clasped hands rest on her knee. The background is composed of varied golden-brown tones. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner “Boris B. Gordon N.Y. 1921.” Since the date is later than the other paintings done by Gordon in 1920, one might suppose that the artist completed the painting after he returned to his studio in New York. In a photograph of the Reception Hall from the early 1920s, this portrait may be seen hanging on the northwest side of the second-level balcony on the wall concealing the elevator.In the early 1960s, Charles H. Babcock (1899–1967) gave the house and its contents, presumably including this painting, to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection—Reynolda House, Inc.—on December 18, 1964, with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Notes:
[1] Various sources disagree about Gordon’s birth date, citing 1882, 1888, and 1890.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]
Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.
Exhibition History
Status
Not on view