This painting shows the back view of a person sitting cross-legged on a blue-green mat or rug with yellow details, carving a large slab of white stone with gray marbling. The person has light brown skin and dark, straight hair, and they are wearing a gold arm band and a leopard print garment wrapped around their waist over what looks like orange pants visible at their knees. They hold a small chisel and hammer, and are carving small lines into the flat stone. The right and top edges of the stone slab have intricate patterns and designs, including the outline of a standing person wearing a feathered headdress, vines, animals, and geometric patterns. The floor below the person is more white marble, and the wall behind the slab is gray. The inscription "Geo. D. F. Brush" and the date "1881" are visible in the right corner.
Read the visual description

This painting shows the back view of a person sitting cross-legged on a blue-green mat or rug with yellow details, carving a large slab of white stone with gray marbling. The person has light brown skin and dark, straight hair, and they are wearing a gold arm band and a leopard print garment wrapped around their waist over what looks like orange pants visible at their knees. They hold a small chisel and hammer, and are carving small lines into the flat stone. The right and top edges of the stone slab have intricate patterns and designs, including the outline of a standing person wearing a feathered headdress, vines, animals, and geometric patterns. The floor below the person is more white marble, and the wall behind the slab is gray. The inscription "Geo. D. F. Brush" and the date "1881" are visible in the right corner.

National Gallery of Art · Painting

An Aztec Sculptor

George de Forest Brush

Date
1887
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
overall: 31.8 x 58.9 cm (12 1/2 x 23 3/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
2005.107.1
Credit line
Gift of the Ann and Tom Barwick Family Collection
Time span
1876 to 1900
Department
CAB

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • American
  • Sculptor
  • Realist
  • Aztec
  • Central American Indian
  • genre
Provenance

Probably purchased 1887 from the artist by Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; (his sale, Chickering Hall, New York, 14-18 February 1899, 4th day, no. 315); E.N. Lawrence.[1] Mrs. John Burling Lawrence, at least in 1933.[2] Ann and Thomas Barwick, Seattle; gift (partial and promised) 2005 to NGA; gift completed 2019. [1] According to an annotated copy of the 1899 sale catalogue in the Knoedler Library Microfiche (American Sales, 0248). [2] Mrs. Lawrence lent the painting to a 1933 Brush exhibition at the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Inscription

upper right in red: GEO D[E?] F BRUSH / 1887

NGA object ID 133518. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.