It's an interior scene, a drawing room or parlor.  A young lady in a
red, or possibly coral-colored dress is standing in front of a fire
place. She is in profile.  Her hair which is dark brown or black is in
a snood.  The dress is fitted at the waist and a full skirt (not quite
hooped though) with several flounces.  Above the mantel, is a portrait
(I think of a man).  The fireplace is ivoryish colored.  I believe
there is at least one window with floor to ceiling drapes.  There may
be a birdcage as well.

I'm not sure how to describe the artistic style.  It was definitely
not impressionistic--everything is clearly delineated.  The picture
belonged to my grandmother and after she died, my parents gave it
away.  I am about 95% positive that it wasn't worth much and I suspect
that it was a print.  Now I'm trying to locate a copy for sentimental
reasons.

Can you identify this picture and if it is a print, can you point me
to any sources where I might be able to obtain a copy.

Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by eiffel-ga on 18 Jul 2002 14:15 PDT

Hi luciaphile,

Vermeer's "Young Woman Standing at a Virginal" has no fireplace, but
 is similar to your picture in several ways:
http://www.artofeurope.com/vermeer/ver10.htm

Perhaps you could comment on that picture, to help with further
 research by myself or other researchers. How close a match is the
 dress, the snood, the window? How does the general style compare with
 the style of the painting that you remember?

Vermeer's paintings frequently included the elements which you
 describe: interiors, ladies in red dresses, hair in a snood,
 paintings on the wall in the background, windows and curtains.
 Perhaps a look at the following Vermeer thumbnails will yield some
 further clues:
http://www.cacr.caltech.edu/~roy/vermeer/thumb.html

Regards,
eiffel-ga

---

Clarification of Question by luciaphile-ga on 18 Jul 2002 14:39 PDT

It's definitely not the Vermeer.  The furnishings in the picture and
the dress look closer to Victorian than anything else.  The girl's
dress goes to the floor (which is also visible--dark, possibly some
sort of parquet/wood floor). There's also a slightly open door to one
side of her (she's facing the other way).  The snood sits lower on the
hair, almost like the type that was popular in the 1940s, but the
clothes definitely look 19th century to me.

I have an old snapshot and in the background is the picture, but as
the picture wasn't the focus of the photo it's hard to tell details,
but what I've mentioned I'm sure of.

From the description, this sounds very much like "Sonata," by an
artist named M. Ditlef, which depicts a young lady in a red dress, her
dark hair drawn back in a snood, sitting at a piano in front of a
fireplace. Reproductions of this painting were very popular in the
1950s.

There is a rather poor photograph of "Sonata" at the bottom of the
page of this Ebay auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=894070483

pinkfreud--sorry, this isn't it.  The woman in the picture I'm looking
for is definitely standing up and there's no piano.  It does look
closer to the style though.  Thanks anyway.

Could be another paint from this artist? I mean, is this the style?
could be another work done by the same painter?
http://www.stantonauctions.com/May6_02/photos/paintings/8.jpg

lrargerich-ga,

Closer in period, no on the style.  The Ditlef painting comes closest
in style, but that's definitely not it. This may be a lost cause.  I
tried scanning the snap I have with the thought that I could load it
to a page, so it could be identified more readily, but no go.  Thanks
for trying.

luciaphile,

Just to let you know that your question wasn't forgotten. I've looked
on and off for the past month and haven't found anything closer than
the suggestions that have already been posted.

Probably your picture is not on the internet.