Irving Ramsey Wiles 1861 - 1948

Sold: Christie's New York, December 4, 2003, lot 33, illustrated in color
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

New York, National Academy of Design, Fifth Autumn Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, 1886, no. 782

Gary A. Reynolds, Irving R. Wiles, New York, 1988, p. 14

This painting is in good condition. Unlined. Under UV: there is inpainting along front edge of the tablecloth, some small scattered spots in the figure's hat, and along the extreme center left edge. There are three small spots of inpainting in the center of composition, and one spot in the lower left corner of the canvas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

By the early decades of the 20^th century, Irving Wiles had cultivated a distinctive body of work and a reputation that led one contemporary critic to bestow him with the epithet, “Painter of Youth and Beauty.” His depictions of modern life display an unmistakable sense of intimacy and immediacy that earned the artist a place among the most popular American Impressionists of his day. Wiles began his artistic career in 1879, enrolling as a student in the Art Students League in 1879. There he studied under the institution’s most celebrated teacher, William Merritt Chase, who became a close friend and mentor. Chase instructed his young student in the importance of utilizing expressive brushstrokes, a rich color palette and painting directly from a model. Seeking to continue his artistic education, Wiles sailed for Europe in 1882, where he studied at the Académie Julian as well as in the atelier of Carolus-Duran. Wiles remained in Paris for only two years before returning to New York, yet his time there would prove formative for the young painter; he continued to augment the lessons preached by Chase—himself schooled in European ateliers—and absorbed the cosmopolitan ethos of the modern French painters.

Upon his return home, Wiles began to exhibit his work in the annual exhibitions of the National Academy of Design and the American Watercolor Society. Through this exposure, the artist garnered the attention of W. Lewis Fraser, the art editor for The Century Magazine, who hired him to produce illustrations for the publication. Wiles would continue to work as an illustrator for the next decade, producing hundreds of watercolors, wash drawings and pen and ink sketches for several prominent illustrated magazines including Century, Scribner’s and Harper’s. While commercial work afforded Wiles financial stability, it also allowed him to develop and hone a gift for narration, as he typically designed illustrations to accompany travel articles and works of fiction. Consequently, Wiles often applied the same subject matter and compositional designs he utilized in illustrations to his work in oil.

Executed in 1886, two years after his return to the United States, The Corner Table brilliantly demonstrates this artistic process across media, as Wiles also rendered a remarkably similar scene appearing in the April 10, 1886 issue of Harper’s Weekly (Fig. 1). In the present work, Wiles presents an elegant young woman sitting before a mirror in a sophisticated restaurant or café. The artist’s indebtedness to the work of Manet is immediately apparent: the compositional format the artist employs here shares several compositional similarities with Manet’s Un bar aux Folies Bergère (A Bar at the Folies-Bergère). Like this 1882 masterpiece, A Corner Table depicts a young woman in front of a mirror in a restaurant, confronting the viewer with eye contact and body language that is strikingly direct.

While demonstrating the profound influence Wiles’ years in Paris had upon his style and choice of subject matter, A Corner Table simultaneously showcases the artist’s true mastery over his medium. He depicts a wide range of textures and surfaces, and expertly captures the delicate nature of the china and glassware as well as the intricate threads of the caning of the chair. Ultimately, however, Wiles occludes the viewer from seeing the full arc of his narrative: is the woman dining alone, or is she expectantly waiting for another patron to join her? When exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1886, the New York Times declared The Corner Table "a clever piece of interior by Irving R. Wiles, excellent in technique and spirited in handling" (quoted in Gary A. Reynolds, Irving R. Wiles, New York, 1988, p. 14). A stylish vignette of modern urban life, A Corner Table exemplifies Wiles’ superb talent for rendering the beautiful yet unexpected details of everyday living.