Student Artwork Guide
Copyright This work is in the public domain. Thomas Wilmer Dewing died in 1938; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 2008.
In context
Hymen — Thomas Wilmer Dewing
The original measures 95 × 44 cm (height × width), drawn here beside an adult of average height.
Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 87 at death.
Painted when the artist was 35. The artist lived to 87. 4 of the 70 dated works by this artist in our catalogue came earlier.
Shaded: the lifetime of Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851–1938) ▲ this work, 1886 every dated painting, decade by decade
First works: up to 1890 Main working years: 1890–1907 Late works: from 1907
Those three bands split the works this catalogue has a date for into a first quarter, a middle half and a last quarter. They are not the artist’s complete output: a thin stretch may be a gap in the record rather than a quiet spell. The same years with the artist’s life laid along them
Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.
More works to set beside this one: topimpressionists.com/en/art/similar/thomas-wilmer-dewing-hymen-D43SKF-en/
Measured from the image
Main colour
Celadon #b6bcb1
Catalogued palette
These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour
The ten leading countries
Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.
Together these works take 73.1% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 115 works by this artist, of which 32 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. The same counts, month by month
Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.
Artist and museum
Born in Boston, United States of America
thomas wilmer dewing, an american painter, was born on may 4, 1851, in boston, massachusetts. his artistic journey began with a lithographic apprenticeship, which later led him to the prestigious académie julian in paris, where he studied under gustave boulanger and jules lefebvre starting from 1887.
dewing's artistic style is characterized by his tonalist paintings, a genre deeply rooted in english aestheticism. his preferred subjects were aristocratic women, often depicted in moody, dreamlike surroundings, playing instruments or engaging in introspective activities. woman in black: portrait of maria oakey dewing (1887), a poignant oil on panel, showcases his wife, an accomplished painter with extensive formal art training. *lady in gold* (1912), now at the brooklyn museum, exemplifies his mastery of capturing the essence of his subjects.
dewing was a founding member of the ten american painters in 1898 and taught at the art students league of new york. his association with the society of landscape painters, founded in 1899, further solidified his position within the tonalist movement.
* the freer gallery of art at the smithsonian institution has a dedicated room for dewing's works. * notable collectors include john gellatly and charles lang freer.
view thomas wilmer dewing's collection on AllPaintingsStore
more on thomas dewing at wikipedia
explore the freer gallery of art at the smithsonian institution for more tonalist masterpieces.
dewing's artistic output declined after 1920. he passed away in new york on november 5, 1938, leaving behind a legacy of captivating, ethereal portraits that continue to intrigue art enthusiasts. *key works and collections available for reproduction at AllPaintingsStore: the white dress woman in black: portrait of maria oakey dewing lady in gold discover the world's most famous paintings with AllPaintingsStore's extensive collection
topimpressionists.com/en/art/download/thomas-wilmer-dewing-hymen-D43SKF-en/
Look closely
Hymen — Thomas Wilmer Dewing
Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.
Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.
The X-Ray view of "Hymen" by Thomas Wilmer Dewing is on the artwork's X-Ray page: an interactive examination of the image through eleven optical layers.
"Hymen" by Thomas Wilmer Dewing can be downloaded from the artwork's Download page, as a high-resolution digital image download.
The color harmony of "Hymen" is recorded as discordant palette.