Ida Barbour Carmichael Oil Painting on Canvas "Wainamoinens Harp Song"

Item Details

Ida Barbour Carmichael (Canadian-American; 1884-1981)
Wainamoinens Harp Song from Kalevala Theme
Oil Painting on Canvas
Signed to Lower Right; Inscribed to Verso
14’ W x 11’ H

An oil painting on canvas by listed Canadian-American artist Ida Barbour Carmichael (1884-1981), titled Wainamoinens Harp Song. From the artist’s series Kalevala Theme, this abstract work features an aqueous scene populated with birds, fish, and abstract organic shapes. Figures and shapes are delineated with black outlines and filled with gradated hues of green, blue, yellow, and white. The painting is signed to the lower right. It is presented in a beveled gray painted wood frame. Several handwritten inscriptions are present to the verso, identifying the theme and title; an additional handwritten inscription provides an excerpt from Rune XLI, reading ‘Wainamoinen ancient minstrel / Played one day and then a second / Played the third from morn ’til even / Pearly tear drops coursing downward / To the deeps of crystal waters / Lost among the reed and rushes / Came a duck upon the waters / ’Bring, o water bird, my teardrop / I will give thee beauteous plumage’ / This the origin of sea pearls / And the blue duck’s beauteous plumage’.

Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ida Carmichael was known for her abstract modernist oil paintings that often feature starkly outlined shapes and flat planes of vibrant colors. She studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy with Reginald Grooms, Clement Barnhorn and Herman Wessel. She was a member of many art organizations in Cincinnati and the rest of the country. Her work has been exhibited at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Closson’s Galleries, and Loring Andrews Galleries, among other art venues.

Condition

- minor scratches, stains, and finish loss scattered throughout frame.

Dimensions

- measurement of frame; canvas size measures approximately 14" W x 11" H.

Item #

18DCC116-575