Sunlight
1909 · Oil on canvas · Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.
About this work
- Artist
- Frank W. Benson (1862–1951)
- Year
- 1909
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 81.3 × 50.8 cm
- Collection
- Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
- Movement
- American Impressionism
A young woman in a long white dress stands on a grassy hilltop above the sea, one hand shading her eyes against the sun and the other on her hip, the wind catching her skirt and the bay a deep blue behind her. Frank W. Benson painted it in 1909 at Wooster Farm on North Haven island in Maine, where his family spent every summer from 1901, and pictures like this of his wife and daughters outdoors in high summer light made his name. The tall, narrow canvas and the figure set against the sky are typical of his North Haven work. The John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis bought it in 1911.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A bright, breezy figure in white, blue and straw gold for a bedroom, hallway or landing in a thin black or dark wood frame. It suits a narrow wall and pairs well with Hassam's coastal pictures on a white or pale blue wall.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- American Impressionism painting
- Era
- 20th century (1909)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Sunlight in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Sunlight painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
