4176

Preparatory work

Mrs Calvin Coolidge, née Grace Anna Goodhue 1926

Seated half-length to the right, her head turned and looking to the left, wearing academic robes, her hands resting on her lap

Pencil and charcoal on cream paper, 29.9 x 22.9 cm (11 ¾ x 9 in.)

Inscribed lower right: The first sketch / for the portrait of Mrs Coolidge / At the White House in March 1926 - / Washington. PA de L

Sitters’ Book II, f. 48: Grace Coolidge Feb. 25, 1926.

Studio Inventory, p. 157 (243): First Study for portrait of Mrs. Coolidge

Private Collection

This is a preparatory drawing for a finished portrait of President Calvin Coolidge’s wife [4171], which remains in the collection of The University of Vermont, U.S.A. De László also painted a portrait of her husband in 1926 [4169].

For a full account of the commission and sittings and for biographical notes on the present sitter, see [4171].

PROVENANCE:

In the possession of the artist on his death;

LITERATURE:

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, p. 360

MD 2013