Idle Hours
Signed lower right: PHILIP LITTLE
Description
In 1914, the recently founded Guild of Boston Artists organized a two-person exhibition of Philip Little’s work, alongside sculptor Cyrus Dallis. Idle Hours was included in the exhibition, on loan from Mrs. Edward Lawrence Kent (nee Alice Cotting) for whom Little painted it two months prior. Rendered with the vigorous brushwork and dazzling palette cited by critics, the composition engages the viewer through the artist’s interpretation of Maine’s strong, clear sunlight, captured eloquently by the highlights and shadows on the figures’ white dresses and the rocks on which they are posed, while the warmth of summer is keenly felt through the hazy atmosphere over the water. Thematically, Idle Hours relates to at least two other paintings dating to this period in Little’s career; The Sisters, which was in his 1914 Guild show but whose present location is unknown, and An Upland Meadow, which was painted in 1917 and is now in the collection of the National Arts Club in New York.
Provenance
The artist
To collection of Alice Cotting (Mrs. Edward Lawrence Kent), Boston, Massachusetts, 1914
Eventually to estate sale, Brookline, Massachusetts (possibly the estate of the above, but further research is needed), circa 1945-1950
By purchase to private collection, Brookline, Massachusetts, circa 1945-1950, and thence by descent to the children of the purchaser, private collection, New York, to present
Inscriptions
- (verso of canvas) IDLE HOURS / PAINTED FOR / ALICE COTTING / OCTOBER 1914 / PHILIP LITTLE
- (in pencil, top stretcher, upside down) 6044
- (in black crayon, right stretcher) 914-3
Labels
- Medallion verso of frame: Foster Brothers / Makers / Boston, Mass.
- Incised stamp verso of frame: 4298 / 4569
Exhibitions
Exhibition of Paintings by Philip Little and Sculpture by Cyrus E. Dallin, Guild of Boston Artists, December 28, 1914 – January 9, 1915, as Idle Hours (lent by Mrs. Edward Lawrence Kent)
Literature
Condition
Very good. The painting is unlined and has minor spots of in-paint scattered in the sky and near the corners/edges. There are a few localized areas of fine age cracking in the right and center sky, in the right and lower center water, and sporadically in the foreground, but they appear stable, with no significant lifting or tenting. There is a series of scoring lines/marks in the left figure’s head and torso, which were made by the artist as he painted over some portions; we can only surmise his intent but perhaps he was mimicking rays of sunlight falling on her head and shoulders.
Frame Details
Original period Foster Brothers frame
