How the Gossip Grew
Date: 1890
Dimensions: Height: cm ( in.), Width: cm ( in.)
Medium: Chromo Lithography – B/W image in various hand-painted states with dresses in different colors Painting – oil on canvas
Owner/Location: Lithographs: Several are held by private owner in different color states.
Oil on canvas original is currently, location unknown.
Description
Currently the original oil painting of How the Gossip Grew is only known through b/w chromographic lithography of painting which have been hand painted. All of the hand painted lithos have different colors on the dresses.
The models for the women in the painting are all Lily Millet. She would hold one pose as long as she could and then change places so Frank could get good visualization of how the women should look in the painting. Humorously, there is a third Lily in the painting, it is her portrait, done by John Singer Sargent, which is hanging on the wall in the upper right of the painting.
There is a large amount of information about the painting in the Frick Digital Archives online. Mr. Frick bought the painting then returned it for credit on another painting. Then he repurchased the painting and gave it as a gift to a Mrs. Lovejoy. The Frick Archives have a letter from FDM about its title and creation, they also have copies of the invoices etc.
Frick Link: https://digitalcollections.frick.org/digico/#/
Once you are online in the archive, type in the painting title How the Gossip Grew and the images will open.
Exhibitions / Provenance
Exhibitions:
1890, London Royal Academy exhibition, item no. 151
Provenance:
Art Collecting Files of Henry Clay Frick
Collection Description Collection contains material, 1881-1925, documenting the art collecting activities of Henry Clay Frick, including purchases, catalogs and works exhibited, inventories and lists, correspondence with dealers and others, and works not acquired.
Title Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912, “How the Gossip Grew”
Description Purchased 1 December 1895 from M. Knoedler & Co. Returned for credit toward the purchase of Daubigny’s “The Ferry Boat,” 1 November 1899. Repurchased 22 July 1901 and given to Mrs. Lovejoy. Includes items from Bill Book No. 1, Bill Book No. 2, the Black Book, and the Red Book.
Date 1896
Research / Publications
Research:
Publications: