Emma in a Chair

For the three years starting in 1921, George Bellows labored on the final portrait of his wife, _Emma in a Purple Dress_ ([1956.58](https://www.dma.org/object/artwork/3218143/)). During these years he also executed several lithographs which depict Emma seated in the same, ruffle-trimmed dress, but experiment with the composition and surroundings. He used his printmaking process to explore the various possibilities of scale and facial expressions. Though the final painting shows Emma seated in their home in Woodstock, New York, this view shows her in their Manhattan apartment at 146 East 19th Street.

**Adapted from**

William Keyse Rudolph, DMA Label copy (1956.58), July 2005.