c. 1925
Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 24”
Signed lower left

Still Life with Kettle

Dorothy Ochtman (1892-1971)

The daughter of prominent Cos Cob landscapist Leonard Ochtman and portraitist Mina Fonda Ochtman, Dorothy Ochtman made still-life her speciality. She studied with Dwight Tryon at Smith College and afterward at the National Academy of Design. Her awards include one in 1924 for a painting with the same teakettle as the one here and a similar background of closely related tones and impressionistic broken brushstrokes. Three blue-green designs on the background resemble James Whistler’s butterfly signature, so perhaps Ochtman intended a subtle homage to the expatriate American whose “arrangements” influenced the American Impressionists. The delicate Asian porcelains and the sturdy kettle are an eclectic pair, conveying her love for a beauty both exotic and humble.