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.
