Study with Fan

Alice Pike Barney's portrait captures a woman in three-quarter view, her dark hair arranged in fashionable waves, her gaze lowered toward an ornamental fan rendered in vivid red and gold. The work demonstrates Barney's fluid handling of pastel and paint, with soft modeling of the face against a cool blue-gray ground. A Cincinnati native who became a prominent painter and society figure in Washington, D.C., and later Los Angeles, Barney excelled at portraiture throughout her career. This study exemplifies the refined technique and intimate scale characteristic of her drawing-room practice.