Helen M. Turner
American, 1858-1958

Morning

Helen Maria Turner was born in Louisville, KY, raised in Alexandria, LA, and later in New Orleans by her widowed uncle after becoming an orphan at 13. Her maternal great-grandfather was a principal founder of the American Academy of Fine Arts as well as the New York Historical Society, which now houses some of her works in its collection. Her paintings embody the height of Impressionism while being uniquely American in influence—primarily depicting “unpretentious” scenes of women at contemplative leisure.

Helen Turner painted Morning, one of the museum’s most iconic paintings, at the height of her artistic career. She was well-networked and exhibited extensively in her own time. She spent her summers at Cragsmoor, an artist colony in New York that still exists today. There she painted Morning on the porch of her beloved home, Takusan.

While most artists at Cragsmoor turned their eye toward the area’s natural beauty, Turner drew inspiration from her home and its surrounding gardens. Morning is emblematic of Turner’s oeuvre; she most often painted figures within landscapes or interiors.

Apparently, the subject in this piece has risen early in the morning on a glorious day and, after gathering a basket of flowers, is reclining on the verandah against a background of wisteria or lilacs. The whites in the picture accentuate the freshness and the coolness of the morning and give brilliance to the light of the day, surrounding the chaste aspect of the woman with freshness and vitality.