Among the Blossoms

Artist Henry Siddons Mowbray American, born Egypt, 1858–1928

Datemid-1880s

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions55 7/8 x 21 3/4 in. (141.9 x 55.2 cm)
Frame: 69 7/8 x 35 1/4 in. (177.5 x 89.5 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of John Gellatly

Object numberG.28.4.2

On View

On view

Label Text
Paintings touching lightly on Greek and Roman themes were popular in the late nineteenth century. These pictures often imagined a classical fantasyland in which beautiful young people in flowing drapery frolic and laze within a pastoral landscape. Siddons Mowbray specialized in such exotic fantasies, both classical and oriental. Like Robert Blum (whose painting titled Reverie is also in the Museum's collection), he knew well that an artist in late Victorian America could only treat sensuality if the setting was another time or culture.Provenance**Created United States, mid-1880s; collection of the artist. John Gellatly (1852–1931), New York, by 1888; given to North Carolina State Art Society, 1928.Published References“Art News and Comments: Work of the Architectural League,” New York Tribune (December 30, 1888), 15.

"An Exhibition of Paintings and Other Works of Art Left as a Bequest to the Society by the late Robert F. Phifer" (brochure) (Raleigh: North Carolina State Art Society, 1929), listed among "First Pictures Given North Carolina State Art Society," no. 53.

Laura Fravel, "Obsession: John Gellatly's American Collection," in North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Summer 2012), mentioned and illus. (color) 14.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, "Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Architectural League of New York," December 24, 1888-January 12, 1889, no. 236 (as Among the Blossoms, lent by John Gellatly).

Raleigh, NC, Sir Walter Hotel, (NC Art State Art Society gallery), 1929, no. 53.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, Highlights of the American Collection, February 15-August 2, 2009.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Art for the People: The Foundation of the North Carolina Museum of Art, 1924–1945,” November 27, 2019–February 9, 2020.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau Visionary," October 23, 2021-January 23, 2022.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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