This is an enchanting and Fine Antique Old Impressionist Spanish Woman Portrait Oil Painting on canvas, by esteemed Massachusetts Impressionist painter, Dana Ripley Pond (1881 - 1962.) This artwork depicts the finely detailed portrait of a young Spanish woman, who wears a red rose in her hair, a long deep blue cloak, and stares directly at the viewer. Her piercing dark eyes, lovely facial features, and bright red lipstick stand out starkly from her cloaked figure. In the distance, a bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and a green rolling landscape can be seen. This painting likely dates to the 1940's - 1950's. This piece is not signed on the front, however an old label on the verso reads: "DANA POND $475." Additionally, the name: "Pond" is written in graphite on the top stretcher bar of the verso. Approximately 35 5/8 x 41 4/8 inches (including frame.) Actual artwork is approximately 30 x 36 inches. Very good condition for age, with some speckles of soiling and yellowing to the painted surface, and a few faint dimples to the canvas. Additionally, there is mild edge wear and scuffing to the vintage frame, and some loose bits of wood trim at the upper right corner of the frame (please see photos.) This is one of the finest portraits by Dana Pond that I have ever seen and would be an exemplary addition to any California Spanish Revival home or Southwestern Adobe house. Pond was the first foreigner to be granted permission to paint in one of great halls of the Palace of Versailles, Paris, and his original artworks are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, among others. Acquired from an old collection in Los Angeles County, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks!
About the Artist:
Born: 1881 - Winchester, MassachusettsDied: 1962 - Winchester, Massachusetts
Known for: Portrait, figure and landscape painting
Name variants: Dana Ripley
Dana Ripley Pond (1881 - 1962) was active/lived in Massachusetts, New York. Dana Pond is known for Portrait, figure and landscape painting.
Dana Ripley Pond (1881-1962) belonged to a noteworthy family in Winchester, Massachusetts, where his father, Handel Pond, had lived since 1869. Dana Pond's uncle Preston Pond was a businessman who was also a selectman, park commissioner, hospital incorporator, president of a home for the elderly, and member of other committees. His aunt Katherine was the town librarian from 1875 to 1889. Aunt Caroline became the town's foremost piano teacher. Handel Pond's wife Amelia Herrick was the daughter of prosperous businessman Moses Herrick and his wife Jane Ripley Hubbard, daughter of Boston artist Charles Hubbard (who himself lived in Winchester for several years).
During the year after his father went into partnership in the Ivers and Pond Piano Company, Dana Ripley Pond was born, on April 8, 1881. Dana Pond was educated at Worcester Academy and studied art in Boston and abroad. While his brothers entered their father's piano company and assumed its management after their father's death (1908) Dana Pond became an artist and maintained a studio in New York City.
He was a member of the National Academy of Art and of the Salmagundi Club. He traveled widely and painted in Europe, particularly in Spain and France. Pond also had a studio in Paris. In fact, he was living in Paris when World War I broke out, and he joined the Red Cross Ambulance Service. In 1918 he used one of the halls in Versailles as a studio to paint a series of portraits of allied commanders, including Marshall Petain, Gen. Pershing, Gen. Bliss, Adm. Benson, and Col. House. This series was exhibited at the Knoedler Galleries in New York in October 1919.
In later life, Pond returned to Winchester. His brothers having died in 1945 and 1957, he was the last of his family to live in the family home on Cambridge Street (which no longer exists). He never married.
Dana Pond died on August 21, 1962 at home and was buried in Winchester's Wildwood Cemetery.
Born and died in Winchester, MA, Pond established himself as one of the most successful and prolific American portrait painters of his day over a long career. Amongst his many illustrious sitters he painted Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt in 1923. After the Great War he was commissioned by the American Red Cross to produce a series of portraits of several American and French Generals and Red Cross ancillary staff. He was the first artist to be permitted to paint in one of the great halls of the Palace of Versailles where he set up his studio. His 1919 Portrait of Admiral W S Benson is in the Smithsonian Collection. Two of Pond’s self-portraits are in the collection of the Museum Fine Arts Boston. He was elected a life Member of the National Academy of Arts, America in 1950, one of the last painters accorded this honour before the practice was discontinued. An award named in his honour is still given at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Biography from the Archives of askART
The following information is from William F. Morgan Jr. Deputy Dir, RDD, US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence and National Vice President of the Military Intelligence Corps Association. (MICA)
Your records reflect that Dana Ripley Pond joined the Red Cross Ambulance Service. It however does not reflect that he also later became an officer serving as an interpreter during the Paris Peace Conference. I have personally seen his uniform with the tailors tag from Paris.
We discovered the uniform when assembling a collection of insignia for Army Intelligence in 2013. A noted insignia collector found the uniform in a Paris military surplus store. It sold for about $50. Since then we have been doing research of official records to determine his relationship to President Wilson, Colonel House, General Pershing, General Bliss, Colonel Van Deman and others linked to the Paris Peace Talks.
We can supply photos of the tailors tag from the uniform. Would like to make sure people know the whole story on Dana Ripley Pond.
Dana Ripley Pond, known primarily as a prolific early twentieth-century American portrait painter, was born on April 8, 1881, to a prominent Winchester, Massachusetts family. He attended the Worcester Academy and continued his education in Boston and abroad. Instead of taking over the family piano company after his father’s death, Pond decided to seriously pursue a career in painting, quickly establishing himself as a proficient portraitist.
Pond maintained a studio in the Hotel des Artistes in New York City and, for a time, one in Paris. While in France just after World War I, he was commissioned by the American Red Cross to paint a series of portraits of Allied commanders and was granted special permission to use one of the great halls of the Palace of Versailles as his studio. In addition to these illustrious sitters, like Admiral William S. Benson, General John J. Pershing, and General Tasker H. Bliss, Pond is well-known for his portrait of New York socialite Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, completed in 1923. He was a member of the National Academy, the Salmagundi Club, and the Allied Artists of America.
Later in life, Pond returned to Winchester, Massachusetts, where he enjoyed painting impressionistic New England landscapes. He died in August of 1962 in his family home on Cambridge Street. His work is included in the collections of the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Smithson American Art Museum. An award named in his honor is still granted at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, each year.