Lillian Genth

The Terrace

Genth II
Lillian Mathilde Genth
United States, 1876-1953
The Terrace
Oil on canvas, 40 x 34 in.
Collection of the Des Moines Women’s Club; Given by Mrs. F. O. Green, 1941.

The paintings of Lillian Genth were popular among American collectors, including several in Des Moines, in the early decades of the 20th century. After studying in Philadelphia, she traveled to Europe (1900-1904) where she studied briefly in Paris with the American artist Whistler, from whom she gained an appreciation for Japanese art, shown in her highly patterned surfaces and her somewhat flattened, decorative spatial compositions. Her primary reputation was for paintings of women, often nudes standing or walking in a landscape, or costumed in filmy, draping dresses and surrounded by flowers and finely decorated objects in settings of luxury. The abrupt and distinctive brushwork and the eye for abstraction (shown in the brashly lighted patterns of the terrace floor) reveal the influence of Whistler, but also of early 20th century Modernists.

This painting was conserved by Barry Bauman Conservation in 2016 with funds donated by Mary & Tom Sheldahl.