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An article in the Winston-Salem Journal about the painting noted, “With the true insight of the super-artist, Mr. Gordon sensed from his first visit here that the perfect picture of Mrs. Reynolds would be a portrayal of her as a mother in her home. And so he spent weeks and months at Renolda [sic], learning the mother her children knew; absorbing the atmosphere of domestic happiness; witnessing the unwavering love and affection governing the home circle; watching the unvarying devotion of a mother towards her children.”
The article continues with a statement by the artist: “‘I could have painted Mrs. Reynolds as a social leader, and made a striking picture. I could have painted her as the charming hostess she is, and made an attractive picture. I could have painted her as a fashionable lady and made a beautiful picture. And while each of such pictures would have been true and characteristic of Mrs. Reynolds, still each would have been incomplete. As it is, I’ve painted Mrs. Reynolds as the woman, the mother, thus combining the striking appearance of the society woman, the charming graciousness of the entertaining woman, the loveliness of the fashionable woman, into a more beautiful picture of the perfect mother.’” [2]
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.
[2] Winston Salem Journal, May 22, 1920.
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 and Mary Reynolds
Artist
Boris Bernhard Gordon
(1882 - 1976)
Subject
Mary Reynolds Babcock
(1908 - 1953)
Date1920
Mediumoil on canvas
DimensionsFrame: 55 5/8 x 45 1/2 in. (141.3 x 115.6 cm)
Canvas: 45 1/2 x 35 1/4 in. (115.6 x 89.5 cm)
Signed<no signature visible>
Credit LineReynolda Estate
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1966.2.98
DescriptionThis portrait by Boris Gordon depicts Katharine Smith Reynolds (1880–1924), widow of the tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds, and her daughter Mary (1908–1953). [1] Katharine is seated in a purple chair holding a large peacock feather fan. She is wearing a bright blue sleeveless dress with a blue-and-gold patterned underskirt. She also wears a long strand of pearls. Her dark wavy hair is bobbed, and she smiles with her lips slightly parted. Twelve-year-old Mary sits behind her in a simple pink dress, with her arm resting around her mother’s shoulder. Her brown hair is bobbed and curled, with a fringe of bangs across her forehead.An article in the Winston-Salem Journal about the painting noted, “With the true insight of the super-artist, Mr. Gordon sensed from his first visit here that the perfect picture of Mrs. Reynolds would be a portrayal of her as a mother in her home. And so he spent weeks and months at Renolda [sic], learning the mother her children knew; absorbing the atmosphere of domestic happiness; witnessing the unwavering love and affection governing the home circle; watching the unvarying devotion of a mother towards her children.”
The article continues with a statement by the artist: “‘I could have painted Mrs. Reynolds as a social leader, and made a striking picture. I could have painted her as the charming hostess she is, and made an attractive picture. I could have painted her as a fashionable lady and made a beautiful picture. And while each of such pictures would have been true and characteristic of Mrs. Reynolds, still each would have been incomplete. As it is, I’ve painted Mrs. Reynolds as the woman, the mother, thus combining the striking appearance of the society woman, the charming graciousness of the entertaining woman, the loveliness of the fashionable woman, into a more beautiful picture of the perfect mother.’” [2]
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.
[2] Winston Salem Journal, May 22, 1920.
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