Elliott Daingerfield (American/North Carolina, 1859-1932), "Wash Day", 1887, oil on canvas, signed and dated "'87" lower right, with a label en verso, 22 in. x 18 in., in a giltwood frame. Provenance: The Charleston Renaissance Gallery, Charleston, SC. Note: Elliott Daingerfield was born in Harper's Ferry, Virginia and grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The son of a Confederate Captain, Daingerfield showed great interest and ability in art at a young age. By 21, he had moved to New York to attend the Art Students League where he studied with George Inness Sr. and Walter Satterlee. The tonalism of these artists proved to be a strong influence in the young artist's work. Daingerfield fell ill with diphtheria in 1886 and returned south for the summer to recuperate in the North Carolina Mountains. The artist fell in love with the small town of Blowing Rock and proceeded to summer there throughout the rest of his life. He maintained a series of studios that took advantage of the mountain vistas that he found so inspiring. Female figures in his paintings often are representative of higher ideals set against the purity of nature. The work offered here, "Wash Day," was painted in 1887 during his second summer in North Carolina. Two women at work on the laundry are placed at the center of the composition. The bright colors of their clothes and the laundry contrasting with the strong shadows evoke the clear noonday sunlight. A curtain sways in the breeze out a bedroom window intimating the comfortable North Carolina mountain air. Reference: Elliot Daingerfield: Victorian Visionary, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, 2001