PORTRAIT OF MARJORIE MERRIWEATHER POST

Creator(s): Douglas Chandor (Painter)

On view in: Marjorie Post's Bedroom

About this object

Post had her portrait painted by Douglas Chandor at the request of her daughter Eleanor, to whom she intended to give the painting on her birthday. Chandor began Post's portrait in 1952, but his sudden death in January 1953 brought the project to an abrupt halt. While Post's face was finished, other passages, most notably her jewelry and hands, remained incomplete. Out of respect for the artist, Post and her daughter accepted the portrait in its unfinished state. The painting now hangs at Hillwood over the mantelpiece in Post's bedroom.

The portrait represents Marjorie Merriweather Post in a three-quarter length seated on a sofa. Her grey hair is in curls and she wears a decollete grey dress with a gathered bodice with attached circular motifs. She wears the following jewelry; pearl earrings and an elaborate necklace, an emerald brooch at the center edge of the dress. On her right wrist is a bracelet with an emerald and on her left hand a marquise cut diamond. Her left wrist has another bracelet sketched in. Over her right arm is a lace scarf and under her left arm is an ermine cape which she rests upon. She holds an orchid in her right hand. The portrait is unfinished because the artist died before he could complete it. The face and upper part are finished but the lower half is only roughly indicated and without details.

Object name:

PORTRAIT OF MARJORIE MERRIWEATHER POST

Made from:

Oil on canvas

Made in:

England

Date made:

1952

Size:

95.3 × 71.1 cm (37 1/2 × 28 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

51.156

Class:

PAINTING

Signature marks:

SIGNATURE lower left: CHANDOR

Credit line:

Gift of Eleanor Close Barzin, 1973