I suppose you don't want to be in business with me any longer?

Date1913

Artist Elizabeth Shippen Green (American painter and illustrator, 1871–1954)

Illustration Citation"Turnabout," by Margaret Deland, in Harper's Magazine, January 1914

MediumCharcoal on illustration board

Dimensionscomposition: 24 × 14 1/2 in. (61 × 36.8 cm)
sheet: 29 13/16 × 18 3/8 in. (75.7 × 46.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Eisenstat, 1983

Object number1983-115

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsDRAWING

Label TextElizabeth Shippen Green engaged in an illustrator’s stratagem here, as she did not indicate which character is speaking; she drew both men as resolutely tight-lipped. While the drawing clearly depicts a moment of emotional tension, the viewer had to read the story to understand it fully. In the text, the older man with the pained expression is trying to avoid his nephew, who stands in the doorway, literally hand in hand. The caption reflects his tentative pose, as he awaits an answer to his question after causing a family rift. The burning lamp illuminates a still life that both shows off Shippen Green's mastery of chiaroscuro in charcoal and highlights the family's comfortable status.

Shippen Green studied with Thomas Eakins and Howard Pyle. She won an exclusive contract as an illustrator with Harper's Magazine in 1901, joining a roster dominated by men. Besides story illustration, she created advertising art for major companies such as Ivory Soap.