"Mr. Adrene," she exclaimed, her eyes still on him, but her words for Annie, "seems very worthy of his good fortune."
Date1913
Artist
Arthur E. Becher
(American artist and illustrator, 1877–1960)
Illustration CitationMerrilie Dawes, by Frank H. Spearman (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions22 1/2 × 16 in. (57.2 × 40.6 cm)
frame: 29 × 21 7/8 in. (73.7 × 55.6 cm)
frame: 29 × 21 7/8 in. (73.7 × 55.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the estate of Frieda Becher, 1971
Object number1971-59
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextThe financial stress following the "Panic of 1907" was reflected in fiction. The moneyed leisure of this well-off party on a yacht will soon be disrupted by financial losses. In the end, the title character's cleverness brings about her marriage and the recouping of her fortune. The scene captures the easy elegance of a society encounter, though there is a certain tension as the charm of ladies and gentlemen in summery fashions is undermined by the dour observer at right and the somewhat disreputable-looking smoker at left.This story is remains topical in many ways for the 21st century. Conversations revolve around stocks and bonds; runs on banks; the cost of steel; threats of creditors, and the civic responsibilities of financiers and philanthropists.
