Oval miniature watercolor on paper set into a painted papier-mâché frame; 40 x 30 mm; 1½ x 1¼ in.
Hills specialized in miniatures, pastels and watercolors, but also created accomplished work in poster and costume design. She studied with Helen Knowlton at the Cowles Art School in Boston, and at the Art Students League in New York. She exhibited work with the Boston Art Club and worked as an illustrator. In 1893 she started creating miniature portraits like the present lot. Her work was very popular. She created more than 350 miniatures, selling them for between $300 and $1,000. For her work, she received a gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 and the Medal of Honor in 1916 from the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters. When the demand for miniatures waned in the 1920s and Hills' eyesight began to fail, she went back to pastels, continuing her long and successful career as a professional artist.
Provenance Private collection, Boston, circa 1895. Private collection, Massachusetts.
