John George Brown 1831-1913

Hermann Warner Williams, Washington, D.C., late 1930s
George P. Guerry, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand H. Davis, New York
Lee B. Anderson, New York
Robert Mann, Miami, Florida
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1973
Acquired by the present owners from the above, 1973

New York, National Academy of Design, Forty-Second Annual Exhibition, 1867, no. 563 (probably)
New York, M. Knoedler & Co., Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Paul Rosenberg and Co., The American Vision, Paintings 1825-1875, October-November 1968, no. 65, illustrated
St. Petersburg, Florida, Museum of Fine Arts; Orlando, Florida, Loch Haven Art Center, The Good Life, An Exhibition of American Genre Painting, September-November 1971, no. 6, p. 40, illustrated
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, 18th and 19th Century Paintings from Private Collections, June-September 1972, no. 7
Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, American Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr., June-July 1973, no. 12, illustrated
Houston, Texas, Meredith Long & Company, Tradition and Innovation, American Paintings 1860-1970, January 1974, no. 3, p. 15, illustrated
New York, National Academy of Design, A Century and a Half of American Art, October-November 1975, pp. 37-38, illustrated
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Fort Worth, Texas, Amon Carter Museum; Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, An American Perspective: Nineteenth-Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr., October 1981-September 1982, p. 117, illustrated in color p. 56
Springfield, Massachusetts, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Country Paths and City Sidewalks: The Art of J.G. Brown, March-December 1989, no. 34, illustrated in color p. 43
Stanford, California, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, American ABC: Childhood in 19th-Century America, February-May 2006, no. 9

Donelson Hoopes, "The Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr. Collection," American Art Review, September-October 1973, p. 52, illustrated
Linda Ayres, "An American perspective: nineteenth-century art from the collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr.," The Magazine Antiques, January 1982, p. 266, illustrated in color pl. XIII
Claire Perry, Young America: Childhood in Nineteenth Century Art and Culture, New Haven, Connecticut, 2006, illustrated in color p. 39

Very good condition; lined, under UV: a 2 inch diagonal thin line of retouching in dress at lower center, otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

"Resting in the Woods depicts a pensive young girl in repose outdoors. The way in which [John George Brown] has rendered the various textures – of her straw hat, shoes, luscious pink dress, and of the mossy rock and the bark and leaves – is one indication of his skill. But the real artistic achievement is revealed in Brown's early use of sunlight as it filters through the leaves. It is a hard, white light that objectively describes the figure and its surroundings. Predating by ten years similar works of solitary, introspective women outdoors by Winslow Homer, it is a work of enormous beauty and force" (Linda Ayres, An American Perspective: Nineteenth-Century Art from the collection of Jo Ann & Julian Ganz, Jr., 1981, p. 53-54).