Photography by Dwight Primiano
Eye
A single eye, drawn precisely and realistically, stares from the center of the page. The red arched lines at the top provide a small clue into the mysterious drawing. Look closely to find the artist’s initials—C and B for Charles Brownell. The drawing is from a sketchbook Brownell kept in the 1860s while courting his future wife, Henrietta Pierce, and could have been a token of affection between the couple, although we do not know if this is Charles’s or Henrietta’s eye.
ArtistCharles De Wolf Brownell(1822-1909)
Dateca. 1870
MediumWatercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions15 7/8 x 15 3/8 x 1 5/8 in. (40.3 x 39.1 x 4.1 cm)
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2007.37
ClassificationWatercolor
Provenance(Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY); John Driscoll, New York, NY; to (Babcock Galleries, New York, NY); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2007
On ViewYes
This artwork's face covers about 33× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.
