This watercolor ca. 1820 shows a peaceful scene set on the grounds of a wealthy estate. A young girl sits on the grass beneath a tree, holding a garland of flowers, while a gentleman stands just behind her. Both are dressed in the fashion of the time. In the distance, a large house is surrounded by well-kept lawns, leafy trees, and nearby outbuildings.  A charming piece in excellent condition; conservation framed in what appears to be its original green painted frame.  Dimensions:  sight 6.25” x 7.25”; frame 8” x 9”.Provenance:  Edith Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York; Isabel Carleton Wilde Folk Art Collection. 

Isabel Carleton Wilde:  During the 1920s and 1930s, Isabel Carleton Wilde was known as a pioneer in the appreciation and collection of American Folk Art.  In 1933, her collection was displayed the Arts Club of Chicago: “The Isabel Carleton Wilde Collection of Early American Folk Painting”. In a 2015 exhibition entitled "Folk Art and American Modernism", the American Folk Art Museum displayed part of Wilde’s collection along with selections from other prominent collectors. The intent of this exhibition was to shed light on how portraits and paintings, carvings, painted furnishings, hooked rugs and sculptural objects influenced Folk Art as a new field of interest and collecting. 

Edith Halpert is regarded as a pioneer in the recognition of American Folk Art as a legitimate art form. In 1926, Edith Gregor Halpert opened the first commercial art space in Greenwich Village, The Downtown Gallery, becoming the first woman in New York City to start such a business.  Halpert used her gallery to create a market for American art, to redefine what American art is, and who an American artist could be.  She frequently supported artists from diverse backgrounds, including women, African Americans, immigrants and others who had not previously been afforded opportunities.  She looked to the country’s past and revitalized the market for American Folk Art.