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Artworks
Gretchen Scherer
Study for English Bedroom of the Georgian Period, 1760-75, after Narcissa Niblack Thorne, 2025Watercolour on paper, unframed45.7 x 61 cm. / 18 x 24 in.
Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery, NY“Study for English Bedroom of the Georgian Period, 1760 - 75, After Narcissa Niblack Thorne,” is based on a miniature room built by Narcissa Niblack Thorne. It is currently in...“Study for English Bedroom of the Georgian Period, 1760 - 75, After Narcissa Niblack Thorne,” is based on a miniature room built by Narcissa Niblack Thorne. It is currently in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection. The Thorne Miniature rooms are in a darkened portion of the lower level of the Art Institute each one is illuminated by interior lights. Narcissa Niblack Thorne was a collector of miniatures, she had so many that she had to rent a studio to store them all. By the 1920’s she decided to create miniature rooms to house them. Each room is set in a specific time period and has a theme. The English Bedroom of the Georgian Period was centered around a bedroom of that period and features miniature Chippendale inspired furniture. The wallpaper and mantelpiece are inspired by Eastern influences. The rooms as they are are very orderly. I imagined what it might look like if it was in disarray. Most of the objects are from the Thorne miniature rooms and that room specifically. But I also sourced a few of the paintings from the Georgian period. The small botanical drawings that are found throughout are by Mary Moser. There is also one by Mary Delany, who made botanical paper collages. There is a portrait of Mary Moser on the ground, “Mary Moser,” by George Romney circa 1770-1771. There is also a self-portrait of her fellow artist and friend “Self-Portrait,” Angelica Kauffman 1770-1775. Moser and Kauffman were founding members of the Royal Academy. In the stairway is a portrait, “Madame Francois Buron,” by Jaques Louis David, 1769 this painting is in the Art Institute’s Collection. Jaques Louis David was raised by his aunt and uncle. Madame Francois Buron, his aunt, was very supportive of him becoming a painter even though his uncle preferred that he study architecture. I am very inspired by the Thorne miniature rooms and wanted to pay homage to them while also wondering which works would I include from that period.