Pastel on silk wrapped on board, signed at lower left, matted and framed under glass.

Board 9 1/4 x 8 3/4 in.; Frame dimensions 19 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.

Collection of a Gentleman

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Elizabeth O’Neill Verner began her art training under Alice Ravanel Huger Smith, before attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia in 1901. She studied there for two years under Thomas Anshutz, then taught art in Aiken, South Carolina before returning to Charleston, where she resumed her studies with Smith.

Elizabeth O’Neill Verner was instrumental in establishing Charleston as a cultural hub of the Southeast. She is best known as an artist – her work is highly prized in the Carolinas – and she also wrote several books about Charleston and hosted visits to her home to help promote the town as a mecca for the Arts. Verner specialized in etchings, watercolors, and pastels, where she captured the charm of everyday life in Charleston.

Some of the pastel pigment has separated from the silk support and fallen between the mat and glass; chip to glass in upper left corner; some minor loss and rubbing to frame.