Jenna Gilley, Associate Curator of Exhibitions
It’s always exciting when we get a new painting at the museum; even more so when it is monumental, as large paintings are expensive (cost of materials and time) and difficult to store. This life-size painting, which measures a whopping 84″x42”, arrived at the museum shortly before the opening of our new exhibition, From Their Indiana Home: Artists of the Hoosier Salon. Celebrating its centennial, the Hoosier Salon is an annual showcase of the state’s best artists, many of whom are in our permanent collection.
The artist and subject of this portrait were both featured in the Hoosier Salon, which makes it an excellent candidate to greet viewers to the exhibition. The artist, Indianapolis native Marie Goth (1887-1975), exhibited in every Salon from its inception in 1925 to her death in 1975: more consecutive years than any other artist. Her art training began at Manual Training High School where her father’s cousin, Hoosier Group painter Otto Stark, was head of the art department. Goth worked as Stark’s assistant while studying at the John Herron Art Institute. Her hard work earned her a scholarship to the Art Students League of New York, and her focused study of portraiture, with Frank Vincent DuMond, set Goth on her path: “After a few sessions, I knew that ‘portraits’ were to be my future”, she stated. Upon her death, she willed the bulk of her estate, valued at more than $600,000 (including her property and collection of 2,000 paintings by herself, Cariani, and Genevieve and Carl Graf) to the Brown County Art Guild. She also left funds to establish and maintain a local art museum to house her collection and display the work of the founding members, alongside contemporary artists.
Geraldine Armstrong Scott (1900-1998) of Kokomo, Indiana is the portrait’s subject. An accomplished landscape painter shown in the Hoosier Salon in 1927-1929 and 1932, she had a fairly prestigious and extensive education. She attended Ward Belmont, Northwestern University, the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts (now Parson’s School of Design), the Chicago Art Institute, and the École Americaine d’Art of Paris. Professor Skinner asked her to replace her upon her retirement, and Geraldine was set to interview; however, fondness for her neighborhood sweetheart, Thomas C. Scott, interfered. Three or four months after Geraldine returned from her studies in Paris for the Parson’s School, she and Thomas married at a quiet home wedding. Upon her marriage she returned to live in Kokomo with her husband for many of her adult years.
The relationship between Goth and Scott is unknown, however, they were likely close friends for Goth to be trusted to paint such a large and intimate picture. Titled Geraldine, this painting won Goth a prize for best portrait in an exhibit of Indiana artists in 1936. The full body portrait shows Scott in a black slip dress with a white shawl draped over her left arm, hands loosely clasped at her waist. Her face is in ¾ view, with a Mona Lisa-like, ambiguous smile. Perhaps the slightest bit of pink lipstick was added to accentuate her lips. She stands in front of a gold-framed mirror slightly to her left, which reveals a hint of her back to the viewer. To her right is a wooden end table, on which is perched a blue and white Chinese urn. She stands on a pink rug with a purple border, and the rest of the room melts into a gray ambiguous space.
I find this portrait intriguing for several reasons. The first is that our subject is rather scantily clad for a married woman of 36; her thin slip dress is held up with a forked spaghetti strap, and the top of the bust is so sheer that it barely covers her breasts. With her hair up, one can see the full expanse of her ivory neck and arms, and with a mirror behind, her back is on display as well. This is not a dress that one would likely wear out in public (at least not for the fainthearted), yet black is an unusual color for nightgowns of the time. Rather than the more common, feminine pastels, black is sophisticated, daring, and as is the case today, sexy. It was worn by the sirens of the screen in the 1930s, at a time when many could not afford the luxury of a silk dress. This choice of dress (or undress) reminds me of John Singer Sargent’s (1856-1925) famous Madame X, which caused scandal upon its unveiling in 1884 for its sensual depiction of American-born Parisian socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau. She too wears a black, low-bodice evening gown which contrasts with her pale skin, originally painted with one strap suggestively sliding off the shoulder. Additionally, like Sargent, Goth has rendered Scott’s face in greater detail than the rest of her garment and the backdrop is a mellow gray, allowing the subject to be the focus of the work. Yet unlike the 25-year-old Gautreau, the more mature Scott assumes a demure and relaxed pose in comparison to the young socialite’s tensed, turned body. Her soft face is not shy, yet also not provocative or dramatic, as Gautrau’s is in sharp profile.
The second reason I find this image interesting is the sitter’s choice of accompanying objects. The white shawl might be another attempt for modesty, saying, “at least if a strange intruder barges into my portrait session, I have something to cover up with”. The large pink carpet and porcelain vase, international artistic wares, are subtly placed status symbols. The Chinese vessel, which is actually an antique ginger jar, was a highly coveted luxurious accessory for the home, not only for their fine quality but also their aesthetic appeal. Coupled with the fact that this life-size portrait was commissioned during the Great Depression, I think it’s safe to say that Mrs. Scott enjoyed a bit of wealth.
Although scant biographies are all we have, from Goth’s depiction, I would surmise that Scott was a confident, vibrant woman not dictated by social norms. From the bits of newspaper articles I found, Scott was a facet of the Kokomo and greater Indiana art scene, serving as chairman and hostess of several statewide art events hosted in Indianapolis and participating in the Indiana Artists’ Club and the Kokomo Art Association along with the Hoosier Salon. This portrait is a testament that art can help fill in gaps of history, particularly personal histories of people’s character. Marie Goth, too, in her excellence at capturing her subject’s personality, is revealed to be a sensitive and talented artist, particularly through her dedication to immortalizing women through portraiture. The FWMoA is ecstatic to welcome this treasure of an Indiana painting into our collection and feature it on display until October 6th.
Sources:
Biography of Geraldine Armstrog Scott, composed by Lesley Wysong, Curator of the Kokomo Art Center, from a handwritten autobiography from the artist.
https://www.fineestateart.com/artists/marie-goth]
https://indyencyclopedia.org/exhibit/marie-goth
https://tridelta.historyit.com/item-detail.php?id=299909#?cv=&c=&m=&s=
The Kokomo Tribune, Kokomo, Indiana, Fri, Dec 15, 1933, Page 6.