"The Last Doll" Post-Impressionist Oil Portrait by Mary Erikson

This miniature oil portrait by M. Erikson rises with verticality, like a fragment of life detached from the world. A child stands upright, yet her posture is far from rigid—it suggests waiting, an uncertain balance between being and becoming. Her face, softly oval in structure, is shaped by loose brushstrokes that deliberately allow the undefined to encroach upon the precise. Her deep, shadowed eyes absorb light as much as they evade it, hinting less at a gaze directed toward the viewer than at an inward retreat.

The palette plays on subtle contrasts and harmonies. The background, dominated by dense browns and greens, grounds the scene somberly, while the skirt bursts with a vaporous whiteness. The impressionistic touch animates the surface, lending the whole an almost tactile vibration where the eye intuits more than it grasps.

The composition hinges on an opposition between the weight of the dark garment, which anchors the upper body, and the airy fragility of the dress, which seems to dissolve into space. This duality is mirrored in the child's stance: she is a static presence, yet the slight tilt of her body and the bent leg suggest the possibility of movement.

A barely held red doll dangles in her right hand. Her loose clutching of it evokes an in-between state—the age when a transitional object has not yet been abandoned, but its significance is already fading.

Instead of academic frontality, Erikson opts for a presence that slips away. This is not a portrait that seeks to capture an individual but rather an impression—of a moment, of light grazing a figure, of a memory that resists being pinned down. A subtle, understated melancholy surface invites the viewer to project their recollections. The work thus becomes a mirror of passing time, an intimate resonance between what was and what remains.

BIO

Mary Erickson grew up sketching the beaches of Long Island Sound and sold her first painting to Gulf+Western Industries in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 13. She studied at the University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University and initially worked in small business management. Erickson's passion for painting and a move to Florida in 1986 stirred her desire to pursue art as a career. Finally, she realized a long-held dream, and in 1993, she began painting professionally.
Preferring to work on location, Mary travels extensively in the tradition of painters since the French Impressionists. She creates field studies (plein air) and then returns to the studio to produce large paintings using the visual knowledge and critical information gathered in the field. Painting tours have taken her to Spain, Guatemala, Argentina, Ireland, and the United States. Whether solitary excursions (like scouring the coast of Maine for painting sites with her rescue dog, Maggie) or group efforts with other professionals or students, Mary believes these painting trips are essential to an artist's growth. Future trips are planned to Italy, France, Costa Rica, Mexico and New Zealand.
A lifelong conservationist, Mary's 39-acre Mary' scene in North Carolina is slated to be left as an artist retreat and bird sanctuary. It is listed on the North Carolina Birding Trail and can be viewed at High Ridge Gardens.
Mary is co-founder of the American Tonalist Society, an organization formed to recognize, promote, and showcase the current tonalist movement and to continue the tradition of the American Tonalists of the 1800s. Erickson is also the founder of The Nanatuck Group, a seasonal gathering of professional artists and modern-day art colony who paint along the coast of Maine, based in Port Clyde on the St. George peninsula. She is a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA). In addition to Artists for Conservation and the Society of Animal Artists, memberships include the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society. Mary has served on the board of Big Brothers / Big Sisters and as an advisor to several national plein air events. She is available for lively demonstrations and inspiring lectures about art and conservation.

Erickson maintains studios in Marshville, NC, and Venice, FL. In the summer, she rents a large house in Port Clyde, ME, and shares the experience with other professional artists. Daily painting excursions and art talks characterize the weeks into early September into the night.
Mary's work is throughout the United States and Europe. Her most significant project to date is the creation of artwork for the WaterStreet Hotel in Apalachicola, Florida. This luxurious waterfront property features Mary's original oil Mary'sngs and reproductions in the hotel lobby and suites.

Every Mary Erickson print edition includes a special edition of 100 prints used exclusively to raise funds for conservation, preservation, and educational organizations throughout the USA.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654315749202
PERIOD: Late 20th Century
CONDITION: Good
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 19" Width: 6.75" Depth: 1.5"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Oil
CREATOR: Mary Erickson