[Ada Rehan as Helena from Midsummer night's dream [graphic] / AJG.

[1895]

1 item : pencil and watercolor or gouache ; 4 3/4 x 3 in.

paper

This record contains unverified data from old cards and may contain incorrect or incomplete text. Please consult Curator for assistance.

Drawing has been executed at the top of the 1st page of a letter from the artist's wife, Minnie Buchanan Goodman, to Ada Rehan, dated July 21, 1895. The portrait is a vignette and is initialed on the lower left portion.

Artist: Goodman was a magazine illustrator and theatrical portraitist who executed a series of 24 drawings entitled 'Women of Shakespeare' for the Pall Mall magazine. Some letters from Goodman to Augustin Daly in the FSL collection discuss this project (Y.c. 4088 1-4).

History: In the above mentioned letters Goodman discusses his use of Ada Rehan as an inspiration for his portrayal of Shakespeare's heroines. In a letter dated July 4, 1895 he writes 'Julia and Helena I have held back from doing - until now - in order to see - Miss Rehan in these characters.'

Subject: Drawing depicts a woman, supposedly Ada Rehan, in Grecian costume, standing to the right of a decorative stanchion, her right arm raised and resting on the upper part of the stanchion. She is facing left, almost profile. The identification of the subject is taken from the contents of the letter on which the portrait has been painted. Since the letter is addressed from Hamstead it is assumed that the artist was inspired by Rehan's portrayal of Helena in an 1895 London production at Daly's Theatre.

Provenance: Portrait is part of a collection of manuscript letters from the Daly collection which was purchased by Mr. Folger from a variety of sources and the exact provenance of this particular letter is unknown. It is assumed that it was once in the possession of Rehan and possibly passed into the hands of Augustin Daly.

Y.c.4089