The following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans & Kenyon

Note 1): The John Pence Gallery of San Francisco has represented Chapman's estate since 1985. On the Gallery's website, it published the following brief essay on Chapman:

“Minerva Chapman (1858-1947) was a premier American painter who spent much of her life in Paris. She attended Mount Holyoke College. In her early twenties, she proceeded to Paris to pursue a distinguished painting career. From 1888-1920, in Paris, she earned the respect and admiration of fellow painters. She was among the first women to be invited into the official Salon and eventually became the first woman president of the International Art Union.

Chapman was exhibited widely in Europe and the United States, winning numerous awards and gold medals. She was a founding member of the miniature painting society. She studied with Annie Shaw, John Vanderpoll, J. P. Laurens, Robert Fluery, Charles Lasar, and Bouguereau. Her credentials were impeccable — a true American Impressionist.

Because of ill health, Chapman moved to California in the 1920's and eventually died in Palo Alto. Her vast estate was largely ignored under the poor custodialship of her brother, until relatives came to the rescue and purchased it from him. The family catalogued and restored the 700 works that remained and eventually began showing them in 1975. She has had retrospective exhibitions at the National Museum for Women in the Arts as well as several regional museums and art centers.

John Pence Gallery has represented the estate since 1985. Her works range in price from $2,200 to $45,000. The gallery is interested in acquiring work by Chapman.”

In elaboration of the foregoing, Chapman exhibited at, among other places: “World's Columbian Expo (Chicago), 1893; Paris Salon, 1899-1926; Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (Paris), 1897, 1905, 1909; Pan-American Expo (Buffalo), 1901; Panama-Calif. Expo (San Diego), 1915 (two gold medals); Palo Alto Art Club, 1929 (solo); Calif. Society of Min. Painters, 1929 (gold medal), 1931 (1st prize), 1936; Century of Progress Expo (Chicago), 1933; County Fair (LA), 1935; Mount Holyoke College, 1986 (solo)”

The following museums own art works by Chapman: Musees Nationaux Paris, Paris, France, Colby College Museum Of Art, Waterville, ME, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY and the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, both in DC.

Note 2) The above Chapman biographical information is impressive. Mr. Fastov believes that this is as fine a Chapman Impressionist painting that has been offered at auction, since Chapman records were kept by Askart.com and Artprice.com in 1992 and 1991, respectively. None is close to being comparable in quality to this highly desirable and very esthetically appealing study of a very young golden, flaxen-haired country girl, who is very cute, and who is holding her current “found” treasure, a feather, in her hand on a bright sunlit day on the trail leading to her country cottage. The highest auction price ever paid for a Chapman painting was $4,887 for an attractive still life, “Souvenirs de Fete, 1911,” fifteen years ago, on 12/10/1997:

Title/Subject: Souvenirs de Fete, 1911 Signed.

. Oil on canvas. 18 in. x 21.70 in sold for $4,887 on

12/10/1997 at Bonhams & Butterfields,

San Francisco CA