Study of Drapery "Fortune"
Medium
figures
Classification
figures
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Accession Number
1955-38-66
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Elihu Vedder’s “Study of Drapery ‘Fortune,’” created around 1899, offers a fascinating glimpse into the artist’s meticulous working process. As an American painter active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Vedder frequently explored allegorical themes, and this preparatory drawing captures the flowing fabric that would envelop a personification of Fortune. The focus on drapery highlights how artists of the period used studies to perfect the illusion of movement and texture before committing to a final composition. Housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the work ...