The Brown Gloves

Raphael Gleitsmann, who lived in Akron from the age of six, never received formal artistic training. The self-taught artist preferred to paint landscapes and city scenes, and generally did not enjoy painting portraits, making 'The Brown Gloves' an unusual example of his work. The subject of the painting—fashionable in her hat, gloves and makeup—appears lost in thought, looking away from the viewer. The slight melancholy of the scene is typical of Gleitsmann’s style, and reflects the major influence of Edward Hopper, whose painted scenes of American life express the isolation of modern living.