The Subject is of a Cat Coddling a Large Egg Underneath a Tree. It is signed Lower Right, "Abercrombie '54". It is Oil on Masonite, in an Older Frame. The Painting measures 10 3/8" x 6 5/8". The Frame measures 13 5/8" x 10". Here is an Evaluation of the Painting by Susan Weininger: February 27, 2023 Authentication for: Gertrude Abercrombie (attributed), Untitled (Tree, Cat and Ball), 1954, 11” x 7”, oil on Masonite, signed and dated lower right Abercrombie ‘54. This painting of a tree under which sits a large cat holding a large ball in an otherwise barren landscape diagonally bisected by a path to the horizon does not appear in my records, nor does it have an established and secure provenance. That does not mean that it is not an authentic painting by the artist, but it requires a thorough analysis of both the style and subject matter to demonstrate its authenticity. The artist frequently painted lone, almost leafless trees, barren landscapes and cats and balls. These elements appear in many of her works. There are, however, some anomalies of style that are troubling in this work. The 1950s were a very productive period for Abercrombie; in 1954 and 1955 alone she had three solo exhibitions as well as participating in a number of group shows, both commercial and institutional, and had her regular spot in the Hyde Park Art Fair where she always had a large assortment of artwork that she sold successfully. In the early 1950s, her good friend the artist John Wilde encouraged her to paint in a more detailed manner which she tried very hard to do in anticipation of the many exhibitions in which she was participating. She found this difficult and sometimes failed, but much of the work of the early 1950s is characterized by the precision that Wilde promoted (see for example, Eggs and Dominoes, 1954, location unknown; Queen and Owl in Tree, 1954, Illinois State Museum, Springfield; Our Three Cats in Grass, 1954, location unknown). Untitled, in contrast, is done in a very loose painterly style. None of the elements is treated with the kind of precision she sought in the works of the time. Compared to Abercrombie’s characteristic sturdy, heavy, often stylized tree is a tall, slender, almost weightless one. The clouds, which seem to double as the leafy tops of the tree, are out of character for the artist whose paintings, although full of wit and elements with multiple meanings, to my knowledge did not mix up clouds and tree tops in other works. Her often lifeless looking trees are topped, in many cases, with clearly delineated new green growth. Abercrombie’s characteristic color palette, often featuring a brilliant blue green or pink as well as the green of grass and earth tones, does not feature the kind of tropical pink of the ground in this painting. While some of Abercrombie’s work seems to have been hastily done, this was not only a period in which she was working against that tendency, but what appears as a kind of rushed quality in Untitled has a completely different feeling than the rushed quality of works such as The Meeting (1948, Tina Kukielski Collection), which is characterized by its overall dark tonality and lack of detail in the figure, tree and owl. And while cats are favorite subjects of Abercrombie, this cat is distinctly different from the mostly thin animals with faces that mimic those of humans. Abercrombie felt great kinship to these animals and, in works like the woodcut Cat and I, makes this explicit by giving the cat and her self-portrait almost identical eyes and features that resonate strongly with each other. The rounded cat with the huge ball in Untitled is strange and unusual in her work. Abercrombie’s work is usually beautifully composed, using objects that balance one another in space and on the surface simultaneously. In Untitled, the tree and the cat exist on the same plane, lacking the kind of dynamic balance that Abercrombie used so masterfully. The painting is dated 1954, an extremely productive year for the artist. I have records referring to approximately 100 paintings done in that year alone, many of which I have not seen, which would make it less likely that there are additional unrecorded authentic works from that year. That is, if this was an authentic painting it would probably appear among the works that are recorded. It is difficult to discern what this painting means beyond combining objects that occur frequently in the artist’s work. Generally, some meaning can be found in Abercrombie’s work if only in the idea that the artist is present in the scene through her emblematic objects. But these objects are presented so unconvincingly that even that shred of meaning doesn’t come through. There is none of the artist’s aura of mystery or quick wit here. The numerous anomalies in style and subject matter, combined with the lack of a clear provenance or any other record of the work leads me to conclude that, in my opinion, this is not an authentic work by Abercrombie. Susan Weininger Professor Emerita Roosevelt University