The Prodigal Son1830–1835Sheet: 12 3/8 x 14 " (31.4 x 35.6 cm)
Frame: 17 1/8 x 18 7/8 x 7/8 " (43.5 x 47.9 x 2.2 cm)Watercolor, gouache, ink, pencil on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.3901547804010P1.2001.262Ruby Devol FinchBooks/Manuscripts/Information ArtifactsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.WestportWestportUnited StatesMassachusettsWorks on PaperWestport
This watercolor was instrumental in art historian Donald R. Walters’s identification of Ruby Devol Finch as the artist responsible for an appealing group of paintings that included portraits of friends and neighbors in the community of Westport and Westport Point, Massachusetts, family records, and two versions of the parable of the prodigal son. Ruby Devol married William Finch of New Bedford in 1832. She was active artistically between 1831 and 1843, but it is not known where she received instruction, if any. Watercolor was a medium frequently recommended for arts in female academies, and Finch may have continued to produce artwork in this medium after her own education was completed.
This is almost certainly the later of her two versions of the prodigal son, based on the greater clarity of the organization. One motif that she established in her earliest known work, the Kirby family record, is still in evidence in this later effort: a leafy vine growing from an urn, which provides vertical divisions in the composition. In The Prodigal Son, these form columns that give the appearance of staffs from which canopies fly, bearing the two upper texts. Unlike the earlier version, the verses are not the traditional words of Luke 15:11–32 but possibly Finch’s original rhyming scheme. A secular feeling pervades this representation of the prodigal son, which incorporates period details of costume, architecture, and dancing, all depicted in bright primary colors. Few women during the early nineteenth century practiced as professional artists, yet many were engaged in artistic activities they had begun as schoolgirls. A number of watercolors by Ruby Devol Finch have been known for some years, including portraits of friends and neighbors in the community of Westport and Westport Point, Massachusetts, family records, and two versions of the parable of the Prodigal Son, but until recently little was known of the artist herself. Finch was active between 1831 and 1843. New scholarship reveals that she was born Aruba Devol, in Westport. She married William Finch of New Bedford in 1832, and was the mother of a daughter born five years earlier. A previously unknown drawing, probably dating to 1832, may be a marriage portrait of the artist and her husband.
This is the later of the two versions of the Prodigal Son. Like an illuminated manuscript, the narrative unfolds as one reads through nine sequential boxes. The verses in this version are not the traditional words of Luke 15:11–32 but possibly Finch’s original rhyming scheme. Each of the illustrated cells offers wonderful insights into contemporary fashion, dance, architecture, and furnishings. The artist also used the individual depictions as the basis for additional single-image drawings.
Stacy C. Hollander, “The Prodigal Son,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP1.2001.26218301835 2013 1 39 This watercolor was instrumental in art historian Donald R. Walters’s identification of Ruby Devol Finch as the artist responsible for an appealing group of paintings that included portraits of friends and neighbors in the community of Westport and Westport Point, Massachusetts, family records, and two versions of the parable of the prodigal son. Ruby Devol married William Finch of New Bedford in 1832. She was active artistically between 1831 and 1843, but it is not known where she received instruction, if any. Watercolor was a medium frequently recommended for arts in female academies, and Finch may have continued to produce artwork in this medium after her own education was completed.
This is almost certainly the later of her two versions of the prodigal son, based on the greater clarity of the organization. One motif that she established in her earliest known work, the Kirby family record, is still in evidence in this later effort: a leafy vine growing from an urn, which provides vertical divisions in the composition. In The Prodigal Son, these form columns that give the appearance of staffs from which canopies fly, bearing the two upper texts. Unlike the earlier version, the verses are not the traditional words of Luke 15:11–32 but possibly Finch’s original rhyming scheme. A secular feeling pervades this representation of the prodigal son, which incorporates period details of costume, architecture, and dancing, all depicted in bright primary colors. Few women during the early nineteenth century practiced as professional artists, yet many were engaged in artistic activities they had begun as schoolgirls. A number of watercolors by Ruby Devol Finch have been known for some years, including portraits of friends and neighbors in the community of Westport and Westport Point, Massachusetts, family records, and two versions of the parable of the Prodigal Son, but until recently little was known of the artist herself. Finch was active between 1831 and 1843. New scholarship reveals that she was born Aruba Devol, in Westport. She married William Finch of New Bedford in 1832, and was the mother of a daughter born five years earlier. A previously unknown drawing, probably dating to 1832, may be a marriage portrait of the artist and her husband.
This is the later of the two versions of the Prodigal Son. Like an illuminated manuscript, the narrative unfolds as one reads through nine sequential boxes. The verses in this version are not the traditional words of Luke 15:11–32 but possibly Finch’s original rhyming scheme. Each of the illustrated cells offers wonderful insights into contemporary fashion, dance, architecture, and furnishings. The artist also used the individual depictions as the basis for additional single-image drawings.
Stacy C. Hollander, “The Prodigal Son,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org