and become a significant art patron, working to make Washington DC a centre for the arts. #AlicePikeBarney
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American artist Alice Pike Barney painted the celebrated dancer Ruth St. Denis (born Ruth Dennis) as modern performance was reshaping ideas of the “new woman” in American culture. St. Denis was gaining fame for theatrical solos that mixed stage spectacle with spiritual longing and imagined “Eastern” motifs. Her work would soon lead her to co-found the Denishawn company and school (1915) with Ted Shawn. The legendary dancer is depicted as a light-skinned woman posing with her torso angled back as if catching a spotlight mid-performance. She wears a low-cut, sleeveless gown of blue-green satin washed with chartreuse highlights. The fabric pools in broad, feathery strokes that suggest motion rather than stillness. A sheer, sparkling drape slips over her one shoulder and across her waist, dotted with tiny white flecks like sequins. Her dark hair is gathered under a silvery, beaded headscarf that frames her face. With softly arched brows, half-lidded eyes, and vivid red lips, she lifts her chin and looks up and away. She is poised, self-possessed, and slightly untouchable. One arm bends to plant a hand at her hip, keeping a dancer’s readiness. Behind her, warm browns sweep diagonally like curtains or vibrating air, while small dabs of light skim her cheekbones, neck, and bare upper chest. Edges blur at the hem and along her shoulders, so Ruth seems to emerge from atmosphere rather than a fixed room. Cool greens and blues in the costume flare against an amber background, and the painterly softness makes her body feel both present and in motion … like a remembered gesture held just long enough to be seen. Barney, an artist and arts patron active in Washington, DC, often presented women as public figures with interior force. Here, a swirling background and shimmering costume act like choreography including Ruth’s lifted chin and firm hand at the hip turning portraiture into performance, suggesting celebrity as self-invention and power.
“Ruth St. Denis” by Alice Pike Barney (American) - Oil on canvas / 1910 - Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC) #WomenInArt #AlicePikeBarney #AliceBarney #Smithsonian #SmithsonianAmericanArtMuseum #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #artText #RuthDennis #RuthStDenis #WomenPaintingWomen
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4. Alice Pike Barney. Pintora simbolista dels EEUU, a cavall del segle XIX i el XX. Va trencar estereotips de gènere amb els seus salons artístics a Paris. També fou inventora i dramaturga. #inktober2025 #alicepikebarney
4. Alice Pike Barney. Pintora simbolista dels EEUU, a cavall del segle XIX i el XX. Va trencar estereotips de gènere amb els seus salons artístics a Paris. També fou inventora i dramaturga. #inktober2025 #alicepikebarney
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Anna May Wong, born Wong Liu Tsong (黄柳霜) in Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese American parents in 1905, was a pioneering Asian American actress who overcame significant hurdles in Hollywood, becoming the first Chinese American film star. She faced challenges like being limited to stereotypical Asian roles and the impact of anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited interracial couples from appearing on screen. Despite these obstacles, she achieved international fame, becoming a fashion icon, and a respected actress -- appearing in over sixty movies throughout her career. This pastel portrait by American artist Alice Pike Barney (born Alice Pike) depicts Wong with her black hair pulled back with bangs that cover her forehead. Her expression is calm and somewhat pensive. Her gaze from large almond eyes is quietly directed away from us. Her skin tone is light, and her features are delicately rendered with soft pastel strokes. She wears a loose light-colored, pale-lilac collared shirt partially visible under a sea-green jacket with a darker fur-like collar that frames her neck and shoulders. The background is muted teal with a subtle texture created by horizontal streaks and hints of lighter pastel. Faint, light-colored blossoms, butterflies, or dragonflies are scattered sporadically across the background, adding a delicate, almost ethereal quality. Born to privilege in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1857, Barney was an influential figure in Washington, D.C.'s social and artistic scene in the early 1900s. She married the wealthy Albert Clifford Barney and had two children, but only began to pursue art seriously after an inspirational day with her daughter and Irish author, poet, and playwright Oscar Wilde in the summer of 1882 on the beach of New York City's Long Beach Hotel. Against societal norms and her husband's wishes, she went to study art in Paris in the late 1880s. She returned to Washington energized to establish a thriving art scene in the nation's capital.
Anna May Wong by Alice Pike Barney (American) - Pastel on fiberboard / c. 1927 - Smithsonian American Art Museum #WomenInArt #art #womensart #pastel #WomanArtist #Smithsonian #FemaleArtist #AlicePikeBarney #Barney #AnnaMayWong #Hollywood #ChineseAmerican #ArtText #SmithsonianAmericanArtMuseum #SAAM
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