Howard Chandler Christy (American, 1872-1952). The Stolen Swim, 1936. Oil on canvasboard. 20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 cm...

Description

Howard Chandler Christy (American, 1872-1952)
The Stolen Swim, 1936
Oil on canvasboard
20 x 16 inches (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: Howard Chandler Christy / 1936
Titled on the reverse: The Stolen Swim

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Yorkville, Illinois.

Painted in 1936, The Stolen Swim perfectly embodies Howard Chandler Christy's lifelong fascination with grace, light, and the American ideal of beauty. Best known as an illustrator, Christy achieved fame through his "Christy Girl"-a symbol of modern elegance and spirited independence that came to define early twentieth-century femininity. As Charles Dana Gibson observed, "Christy's girls have more grace and warmth-they're alive, vital, and thoroughly American" (The New York Times, March 20, 1910, p. X7).

While Christy's illustrations made him a household name, it is his nudes-radiant, self-assured, and imbued with natural sensuality-that remain the most coveted within his oeuvre. In The Stolen Swim, a young woman reclines on the sunlit dunes, her luminous skin and tousled hair rendered with loose, confident brushwork. The artist's deft handling of texture and tone transforms a fleeting seaside moment into an expression of timeless beauty.

Executed at the height of Christy's mature period, The Stolen Swim merges the spontaneity of Impressionism with the allure of the "Christy Girl," affirming the artist's enduring influence on the American vision of feminine grace.


More information about Howard Chandler Christy. See also: Christy, Howard Chandler Artist.



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