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  • Close-up of a painting depicting a woman adjusting a black hat, with a vase holding pink roses and a framed picture in the background.
  • A woman in a white gown placing a large black hat on her head inside a room decorated with pink flowers and a cabinet.
  • A woman in a white gown places a large black hat on her head inside a room decorated with pink flowers and a cabinet.
  • A woman in a white gown placing a large black hat on her head inside a room decorated with pink flowers and a cabinet.
  • Close-up of a wooden frame with a faded label with partially visible text, including "sent by the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island."
  • A close-up view of an intricate golden frame next to a painted ceramic vase in white and blue tones.
  • The back view of an artwork in a wooden frame and white center panel with attached labels, including identification and handling instructions.
  • A worn exhibition label attached to a wooden surface with writing reading "Girl Putting on a Hat' by Benson, associated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston".
  • A close up of a wooden surface with a brass bracket and a label reading "Foster Brothers, 4 Park Square, Boston. Pictures and Frames."

Frank Weston Benson

Lady Trying on a Hat (The Black Hat)

Maker

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951)

Title

Lady Trying on a Hat (The Black Hat)

Year

1904

Medium

  • Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Oil on canvas

Materials

oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

102.2 x 81.6 cm (40 1/4 x 32 1/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed LL:F.W. Benson 1904

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Walter Callender, Henry D. Sharpe, Howard L. Clark, William Gammell and Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

06.002

Type

  • Paintings

Publications

  • Books

Selection VII: American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

Articles

Style and Sincerity

Exhibition History

Making It In America
Oct 11, 2013 – Feb 09, 2014

Label copy

Benson chose the private act of dressing as a premise for this study. His setting, an “artistic interior,” incorporates decorative objects, including a Japanese chest, a blue and white porcelain vase, and small silver items arrayed on a table. A favorite model, Mary Sullivan, appears to admire herself in an unseen mirror as she lifts her arms to adjust the elaborate black hat. Its wide brim obscures her face, deflecting attention to her active pose and to the dazzling surface effects of her gauzy white dress and satin waistband.

American Art from the Permanent Collection
May 01, 2010 – Aug 31, 2014
American Paintings from the Museum's Collection
Feb 10, 1999 – Apr 01, 1999
Joseph Lindon Smith and His Circle in Dublin, New Hampshire
Oct 14, 1998 – Mar 03, 1999

Label copy

Lady Trying on a Hat was not intended to be a portrait, but rather a genre painting showing the furnishings of a lady's boudoir. The room contains an eclectic mix of decorative art objects, typical of Dublin and Boston interiors of that era. The chest behind the figure and the two vases are Asian export ware, and the furniture is colonial American. While the composition of this painting is quite balanced and careful, Benson's expressive brushwork is dynamic. The artist's bold use of color --characteristic of his later paintings -- may be seen in the vivid orange reflections on the vase and the table and the bright pink shawl behind the figure.

Romanticism and Revival
Nineteenth-Century American Art from the Permanent Collection
Dec 04, 1992 – Jun 26, 1993
  • More Exhibition History +

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951)
Lady Trying on a Hat (The Black Hat), 1904
Oil on canvas
102.2 x 81.6 cm (40 1/4 x 32 1/8 inches)
Gift of Walter Callender, Henry D. Sharpe, Howard L. Clark, William Gammell and Isaac C. Bates 06.002

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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