Rose Hartwell (1861-1917), Waiting, c.1910, oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1941.
This painting’s enigmatic title is a perfect fit for its intriguing subject, where an unknown woman dressed in black sits with her hands in her lap, her eyes seemingly focused on nothing. What is she waiting for? Perhaps she waits for a family member or friend to pay her a visit. Given the woman’s attire and the painting’s somber tone, whether knowingly or not, she also seems to be waiting for death. We will likely never know what Rose Hartwell intended this painting to mean, so we too are left waiting to know this woman’s story.
