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Shop Girls

Expressive painting with an almost blurry effect of three women dressed in black and white examining and cutting large pieces of fabric.

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  • Expressive painting with an almost blurry effect of three women dressed in black and white examining and cutting large pieces of fabric.

Date:

c. 1912

Artist:

Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (American, 1885–1968)

About this artwork

In 1912 the department store was a relatively new and important urban institution. Shop Girls depicts female employees as they cut cloth from fabric bolts and ready them for sale. Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones rendered this modern subject in rapid, open brushwork, paying particular attention to effects of light and atmosphere. Her work of this period often represented women in the modern city: nursemaids at home, women strolling in the park, shoppers, and store clerks.

Sparhawk-Jones studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she learned from artists William Merritt Chase and Cecilia Beaux. She developed an energetic painting style that drew from both Realism and Impressionism.

Status

On View, Gallery 272

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones

Title

Shop Girls

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1912

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, lower right: Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones

Dimensions

96.9 × 122.1 cm (38 1/8 × 48 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Friends of American Art Collection

Reference Number

1912.1677

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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