The artwork of a talented American impressionist has been given new life at Hawthorne Fine Art. Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976), who worked as an illustrator and fine artist during the early- to mid-20th century, studied at the National Academy of Design and the Chicago Art Institute, as well as with renowned impressionist William Merritt Chase. The breadth of her work spans illustrations for publications like Harper’s Bazaar and The Saturday Evening Post, in addition to fine portraiture, still lifes and pastoral landscapes. 
Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976), An Italian Garden, 1910. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in., signed lower right.
A retrospective at Hawthorne Fine Art running through December 18, shares with collectors more than 50 works across a wide range of mediums, including oil, watercolor, pastel and ink, spanning McMillan’s nearly five-decade career. “Together, the work reveals McMillan’s skill, versatility and the lasting influence of her teacher, Chase,” the gallery notes.
Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976), Young Girl with Parasol, ca. 1910-15. Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in., estate stamp verso.
“I am delighted to have come upon the estate of such a talented female American impressionist whose careful attention to the training she received from William Merritt Chase is clearly evident in her beautiful body of work,” says Jennifer C. Krieger, managing partner at Hawthorne Fine Art.
Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976), Red Window Sashes. Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 in., estate stamp verso. photos courtesy Hawthorne Fine Art, New York, NY.
An Italian Garden was painted in 1910 alongside Chase at his 15th-century Florentine villa and captures who are thought to be Chase’s two youngest daughters, Helen Velazquez and Mary Content. Additionally, Young Girl with Parasol, in which a little girl holding a bright red parasol stands underneath a roof framed by foliage, appears to feature Helen yet again. “I am proud to highlight especially two of the works which we believe depict William Merritt Chase’s beloved daughters at his Florentine Villa Silli with colorful parasols. Mary Lane was known to have been particularly fond of parasols,” says Krieger.
Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976), Young Woman with Parasol. Pastel on paper, 7 x 5 in., estate stamp verso.
Paintings of Maine pastoral scenes like the oil on board View of Penobscot Bay, a pastel depicting McMillan’s caretaker in Study of a Nurse, renderings of idyllic life in the garden and many others will be on view during Drawn from Life: The Art of Mary Lane McMillan (1883-1976) this fall. —
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