Mexican Gourd Pitcher and Tulip Bud
Rebecca Salsbury (Strand) James
American, born England, 1891–1968
Details
Title
Mexican Gourd Pitcher and Tulip Bud
Artist/Maker
Rebecca Salsbury (Strand) James (American, born England, 1891–1968)
Date
early 1930s
Medium
Oil on glass
Dimensions
19 3/4 x 11 5/8 inches
Credit
Purchase through prior acquisition from Elizabeth Berry Reid, 2005.214
Accession #
2005.214
One of the few women artists in Alfred Stieglitz’s circle, Rebecca James began painting at the encouragement of her husband, photographer Paul Strand. On a trip to Taos, New Mexico, with Georgia O’Keeffe in the summer of 1929, James appropriated O’Keeffe’s use of a glass pane as a palette. Noticing the effects of light and color on the glass, James began to paint with oils in reverse on glass, which remained her preferred technique. Choosing glass and, later, embroidery—media that were common in American colonial folk art—James found her way to the forefront of experimental avant-garde expression.