Louise Cox, American, 1865 - 1945 - Untitled (Seated Young Girl) - 1903 - T-Shirt

A young girl sits upright on a wooden stool in a wide-brimmed hat, hands clasped in her lap, meeting the viewer with a calm, direct gaze.

Visual Elements & Composition

The drawing is built on warm, yellowed paper, with pencil and coloured-pencil work forming the figure. Pale yellow fills most of the sheet, while graphite grey carries the outlines of the hat, the long hair falling to the shoulders, and the thin lines of the stool legs. Touches of dusty pink and sage green are brushed over the dress, adding small points of colour. The figure sits at the centre of the composition, with the loose, layered dress and sleeves that fall over the hands taking up much of the frame. The artist's name and the date, July 1903, appear in the lower left corner.

Meaning & Symbolism

Portraits of children in elaborate hats and dresses were a familiar subject in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century painting. Costume and a poised pose signalled a sitter's family standing, while the composed posture reflected the period's view of childhood as a time of innocence. Louise Cox, American, 1865 to 1945, made this study in 1903. Its combination of pencil with light colour suggests a working sketch used to test colour and tone ahead of a finished portrait, and it belongs to her body of studies of children and the figure from the early years of the twentieth century.

Crafted for the Wearer Close at Hand

A seated figure with a wide hat and clasped hands is a composition that rewards a closer look, and a tee brings it into that close range. The soft pale ground, the graphite outlines and the flashes of pink and green stay legible across the chest, so the girl's quiet, attentive expression reads as you move through the day. The design's intimate tone suits a shirt worn as an everyday piece.