Artist:
Violet Oakley
(American, 1874 - 1961)
Sitter:
Helen Daniel Taylor
Mrs. Norman Taylor
Medium: Pastel on paper
Date: 1950
Dimensions:
19 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (49.5 × 39.4 cm)
Accession number: 78.4.2
Label Copy:
The elegant Helen Daniel Taylor is the subject of two portrait sketches by Violet Oakley. In both, the artist uses toned paper and light-colored pastels, which dramatically highlight the figure. Not an artist herself, per se, Taylor made a career in the art world as a color consultant and was a co-author of the 1950 Descriptive Color Names Dictionary, an industry standard in the commercial use of color. The graceful gown she wears in this full-length study is a color very close to one called "bright lavender" in Taylor’s book.
The elegant Helen Daniel Taylor is the subject of two portrait sketches by Violet Oakley. In both, the artist uses toned paper and light-colored pastels, which dramatically highlight the figure. Not an artist herself, per se, Taylor made a career in the art world as a color consultant and was a co-author of the 1950 Descriptive Color Names Dictionary, an industry standard in the commercial use of color. The graceful gown she wears in this full-length study is a color very close to one called "bright lavender" in Taylor’s book.