Mrs. Potter Palmer - Anders Zorn

Potter Palmer Collection

"Mrs. Potter Palmer" by Anders Zorn (1893) Oil on canvas.

Commentary

"Mrs. Potter Palmer" by Anders Zorn (1893) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through color, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Themes to notice include nineteenth century, painting. This piece is held in the source collection's Painting and Sculpture of Europe collection. Anders Zorn is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Anders Leonard Zorn (Swedish, 1860–1920). The work is cataloged within a Sweden cultural context. It is associated with the nineteenth century period. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as painting, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Oil on canvas) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (258 × 141.2 cm (101 5/8 × 55 5/8 in.); Framed: 266.7 × 149.9 × 10.2 cm (105 × 59 × 4 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include nineteenth century, painting. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/81576

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data