Wilbur Fiske Noyes (American, 1897-1951)

Portrait of the Pianist Ethel Hutchinson Russell (1897-1995)
Signed "-Wilbur Fiske Noyes-" lower left, dated "1933" lower right, inscribed "Ethel Hutchinson Russell/Newton Mass/Artist Pupil of Heinrich Gebhard" on the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 in. (101.5 x 76.5 cm), framed.
Condition: Abrasion with paint loss lower center, scattered tiny paint losses, minor canvas bulge to center, slight canvas rippling to upper right corner, uneven varnish surface to lower right corner, minor surface grime.

N.B. This dramatic woman in green was known professionally as Ethel Hutchinson, a celebrated concert pianist and esteemed instructor, trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In Boston, she was one of a handful of
talented students accepted by Heinrich Gebhard, pianist, composer, and Boston Symphony Orchestra soloist. At that moment, Gebhard took only two artist-pupils at a time, and Miss Hutchinson's fellow apprentice was Leonard Bernstein. Hutchinson was a soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. She appeared frequently in Boston's Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall. One of her last public appearances was the performance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1947. In 1953 she collaborated with her mentor Heinrich Gebhard to make a vinyl recording of Martin Loeffler's A Pagan Poem for which Gebhard created the arrangement for two pianos.

Condition: Framed dimensions are 44 x 34 x 1 1/2 inches.

The lower right corner shows a spray pattern of some foreign substance on the surface. The bulge mentioned above is due to a small bump from the reverse and is located in the background above the sitter's left arm. The abrasion with paint loss is irregular in shape and measures about 1/2 x 3/8 inches overall.

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