Rainy Day

In this interior scene of the artist’s summer residence in Maine, Frank Weston Benson depicted his daughter Elisabeth curled up in a rattan chair near a large fireplace. A key figure of American Impressionism, Benson is best known for his outdoor figural compositions—often featuring his wife or children—in sun-filled, breezy landscapes. Rainy Day, in contrast, is a study of the subtler effects of interior light, with flat, overcast lighting filtering in from the left and embers glowing at far right. In the late 19th century, painters including Benson, Edmund Tarbell, and Thomas Wilmer Dewing composed scenes of women in interiors in a contemplative state or engaged in activities like sewing and reading, suggesting links between domesticity, femininity, and cultural refinement. (Source: Art Institute of Chicago)