untitled [painting provenance]

<img src="images\box0\logo.jpg" alt="Provenance"> Welcome. You are a research assistant with a well-regarded art auction house. Your employer has just acquired a newly (re)discovered painting, thought to be by a turn-of-the-century English artist named George Lawrence Marshall (1869-1932). "Thought," in fact, because the painting is signed with a monogram rather than his name, as was usual with his body of work. <img src="images\box0\painting1.jpg" alt="A painting, oil on canvas, depicting two nude women laying in the sand on a beach. One is brunette, one is blonde-ish, and they appear to be engaged in conversation. They are surrounded by sand and tufts of green grass. The sea in front of them is bright blue, and the sky above them is filled with puffy clouds."> As part of the appraisal/authentication process, you've been tasked with doing provenance research — figuring out if George Lawrence Marshall indeed painted this picture. Marshall's surviving papers and sundry are held at the European Archives of Victorian and Edwardian Art in London. Your supervisor made an appointment for you to examine the papers, and now it's time to actually do the research. What will you find? [[Enter the archive|meet Priya]] --- (set: $PierreLetter to false)(set: $LouisaLetter to false)(set: $StudioPhotos to false)(set: $Sketchbook1 to false)(set: $SalonCatalogPage to false)(set: $CanvasReceipt to false)(set: $BaggageTag to false)(set: $SharePierre to false)(set: $ShareSalon to false)(set: $ShareSketchbook to false)(set: $ShareLouisa to false)(set: $ShareReceipt to false)(set: $ShareTag to false)(set: $SharePhotos to false)

The receptionist at EAVEA is in the process of directing you to Special Collections when a dark-haired woman in a bright blue cardigan bursts in from a back room. "Hi!" she says breathlessly. "You're the researcher, right? You had an appointment?" When you nod, she goes on, "I'm Priya Malakar. Special Collections Archivist. My apologies, I was digging around for all the boxes you might need and lost track of time. Glad I wasn't //too// late, though. Shall we?" Priya leads you through a maze of halls — "this is a repurposed old hospital building," she explains, "we had to work around the architecture" — but before long, you arrive at a door labeled "Reading Room." The room itself is borderline crowded, between the work tables and the laden-down bookshelves and the banker's boxes bearing neon Post-It notes with unintelligible scribbles. You can't help but think of a closet in a cartoon, where one door holds back an avalanche of stuff. It's controlled chaos. Barely. "I've got you set up right here," Priya says, leading you to the tidiest table. "These six boxes //should// cover the time frame you're looking for. Approximately. I think there are some letters from Marshall's art dealer in box 7, so you might want to start there. Now, do you have any other questions or should I just let you get started?" [["I've never actually done archival research before..."|q&a]] //or// [["Hang on, what do you mean, approximately?"|background on collection]] //or// [["Thank you, but I think I'm good."|intro to research setup]] ---

The banker's boxes that Priya gave you //have// labels, but besides having George Marshall's name and what looks like an accession number, they indicate very little about the actual content. The only thing you can ascertain is that these records seem to span 1890 to 1920 or so. Bit outside your range of interest, but you can deal with that. For your own convenience, you grab some Post-Its and label the boxes 1 through 8, from left to right. You also write your custom labels on the copy of the finding aid Priya printed out, and you scrawl a quick asterisk by Box 7, because that's where she told you some correspondence with George's art dealer would probably be. [[What will you explore first?|finding aid]] (set: $OpenedBox1 to false)(set: $OpenedBox1Folder1 to false)(set: $OpenedBox1Folder2 to false)(set: $OpenedBox2 to false)(set: $OpenedBox3 to false)(set: $OpenedBox4 to false)(set: $OpenedBox4Folder2 to false)(set: $OpenedBox4Folder3 to false)(set: $OpenedBox5 to false)(set: $OpenedBox5Folder2 to false)(set: $OpenedBox6 to false)(set: $OpenedBox7 to false)(set: $OpenedBox7Folder1Contract to false)(set: $OpenedBox8 to false)(set: $OpenedBox8Folder1 to false)(set: $OpenedBox8Folder2 to false)

(if: $OpenedBox1 is false)[You open Box 1 and quickly scan its contents. Two things jump out at you. One is a large brown box labeled "Randolph Photos" in spidery handwriting. The other is a small clutch of envelopes, tied up with twine that seems to be falling apart.](else:)[The items of interest here are the large brown box labeled "Randolph Photos" and the clutch of envelopes.] [[Open the large brown box|Box 1, Folder 1]] [[Examine the envelopes|Box 1, Folder 2]] (set: $OpenedBox1 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox4 is false)[This box has a bunch of photo albums, but they don't look as if they were associated with "Randolph Photos." No, these look personal, and one of them even has the same "GLM" monogram that's on the painting.](else:)[This box contains the assortment of photo albums.] [[View album labeled "GLM"|Box 4, Folder 1]] [[View album labeled "Randolph Family"|Box 4, Folder 2]] [[View album labeled "London and Paris 1900-"|Box 4, Folder 3]] [[View album with a gilt rose embossed on its cover|Box 4, Folder 4]] (set: $OpenedBox4 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox5 is false)[Most of this box has correspondence filed in roughly chronological order, but at the back you find, of all things, an old candy box. It's a fairly large box, probably originally housing a wide assortments of chocolates or other treat. The artwork on the lid, of an elegantly dressed Edwardian woman, is faded with age but still gorgeous. You prize off the lid and see a folded letter on top of an assortment of ephemera.](else:)[This is where you found the old candy box with the letter and assorted ephemera.] [[View folded letter|Box 5, Folder 1]] [[View the rest of the box's contents|Box 5, Folder 2]] (set: $OpenedBox5 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

More letters in here. Among the correspondence for 1913 and 1914 are a larger envelope and a folder labeled "Noirmoutier" (in Katherine's handwriting). [[Open the envelope|Box 8, Folder 1]] [[Look at the folder labeled "Noirmoutier"|Box 8, Folder 2]] (set: $OpenedBox8 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

(if:$PierreLetter is false)[It takes you some shuffling, but eventually you find a few interesting things among the papers for 1914: a letter from Pierre Beaulieu, a torn-out page from a Salon catalog, and a document that you're fairly sure is a contract.](else:)[This box contains the materials Priya told you about, pertaining to George's art dealer Pierre Beaulieu.] [[Read the letter from Pierre Beaulieu to George Marshall|Box 7, Folder 1, Pierre to George]] [[Examine the torn-out page|Box 7, Folder 1, Salon catalog page]] [[View contract|Box 7, Folder 1, contract]] --- [[Back to box|Box 7]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox1Folder1 is false)["Randolph Photos" seems to have been a photography business — run, you'd guess, by Katherine Randolph herself. Sure enough, as you gingerly thumb through the box you see lots of business records (receipts, invoices, equipment orders), a few miscellaneous portraits of people you don't recognize tucked into nifty little gilt-embossed cabinet-card frames, correspondence from various people. But what finally catches your eye is a letter from George Marshall.](else:)["Randolph Photos" contains numerous artifacts from Katherine's photography career: business records (receipts, invoices, equipment orders), a few miscellaneous portraits of people you don't recognize tucked into nifty little gilt-embossed cabinet-card frames, correspondence from various people. This is where you found George Marshall's letter to Katherine.] (b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ April 27, 1893 Dear Miss Randolph, I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to pose for me. It is my dearest hope to get a painting into the Salon du Champs-des-Mars this year, and I truly believe that with you as my muse — you, with your own photographic talent and eye for composition — the jurors would be fools to turn my work down again. If I am accepted, I will owe that in significant measure to you. When will you return to England? I am of course anxious to begin work on this painting, but I would be remiss if I did not mention that my wife also anticipates your return. She talks of you a lot, and in the highest regard — and if you know her at all, you know she is normally as quiet as a church mouse, preferring to write and sketch instead of talk. Speaking of, I heard from Louisa about your recent award in the photography competition. I would like to add my hearty congratulations to hers. We shall have to toast it when you are next here. All my best, George Marshall ] (set: $OpenedBox1Folder1 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox1Folder2 is false)[The twine around the envelopes falls apart in your hands as you gently untie it. Damn, you'll have to tell Priya about that later. You discover a few things in this little bundle: a pressed violet in one of the envelopes, a calling card, and two letters.](else:)[Included in this bundle of envelopes are a pressed violet, a calling card, and two letters.] [[Examine pressed violet|Box 1, Folder 2, violet]] [[Examine calling card|Box 1, Folder 2, calling card]] [[View letter from Katherine to Louisa|Box 1, Folder 2, K-L letter]] [[View letter from Louisa to Katherine|Box 1, Folder 2, L-K letter]] (set: $OpenedBox1Folder2 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

In this album are some photos of a young Louisa... =|= <img src="images\box4\folder1\1870s_Louisa_child1.jpg" alt="A photo of a very young Louisa Marshall (when she was Louisa Farrens). She looks maybe five years old." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Undated. Louisa looks around five years old here. =|= <img src="images\box4\folder1\1880s_Louisa_child2.jpg" alt="A photo of a young Louisa Marshall (when she was Louisa Farrens). She looks about ten years old." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Also undated. Louisa might be around ten years old. |==| And a couple photos of George as well... =|= <img src="images\box4\folder1\1870s_George_child.jpg" alt="A photo of a young George Marshall, standing outside a house and playing with a dog. He looks between seven and eleven years old." style="width:100%"> Aww, he's playing with a dog, that's cute! =|= <img src="images\box4\folder1\1880s_George_teenager2.jpg" alt="A photo of a young George Marshall and a much older woman, possibly his mother, aunt, or grandmother. George is standing, while the woman is seated. He is probably in his mid to late teens here." style="width:100%"> George looks to be in his late teens here. And who is that with him, his mother? An aunt or grandmother? |==| And even a photo that looks like it's from Louisa and George's wedding! <img src="images\box4\folder1\1890s_Louisa_George_wedding.jpg" alt="A photo of George (left) and Louisa Marshall, looking like newlyweds. They both appear to be in their early twenties. George has a rather ridiculous thin mustache. Louisa's dress is adorned with some indeterminate beading pattern and lace sleeves." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Louisa looks pretty. George... that mustache was certainly a choice. --- [[Back to box|Box 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox4Folder2 is false)[This album must have belonged to Katherine Randolph's family. You find some pictures of Katherine herself...](else:)[This album contains some pictures of Katherine...] =|= <img src="images\box4\folder2\1880s_Katherine4.jpg" alt="A photo of Katherine Randolph, possibly from the late 1880s or early 1890s. Her hair is in a complex-looking updo. She is young, certainly, but a young woman rather than a child or teenager." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Undated, but possibly from the late 1880s or early 1890s. =|= <img src="images\box4\folder2\1900s_Katherine5.jpg" alt="A photo of Katherine Randolph, standing behind some sort of wooden fence with her hands resting atop it. Her attire would seem to date this photo to sometime in the 1900s; she wears a simple shirt and skirt combination typical of that era, as well as a broad-brimmed hat bedecked with flowers. At her neck is a bow of sorts, made with striped fabric. The tails of this bow go almost all the way down to her waist." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Katherine's attire here would seem to date this photo to the 1900s. =|= <img src="images\box4\folder2\1900s_Katherine6.jpg" alt="A photo of Katherine Randolph. In this one, she is seated such that she's visible in profile. Her attire would seem to date this photo to sometime in the 1900s; she wears a shirt and skirt combination typical of that era, as well as a broad-brimmed hat. The shirt features some fabric ornamentation, rather than being plain." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> Probably also from the 1900s. That blouse-and-skirt combination was typical of the decade. |==| (if: $OpenedBox4Folder2 is false)[You also see two photos, both pasted on the same album page, of someone named Nettie who looks like she could be Katherine's sister. They have identical notes on the back: "Nettie at Noirmoutier, 1904"](else:)[...and two photos of Nettie (maybe Katherine's sister).] =|= <img src="images\box4\folder2\1900s_Noirmoutier1.jpg" alt="A photo of a young woman named Nettie (possibly surname Randolph). She is sitting in a lounge chair on a beach, with sand around her, grass behind her, and an open book on her lap. Her outfit is simple, that blouse-and-skirt combination common in more casual wear of the early 1900s." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> =||= <img src="images\box4\folder2\1900s_Noirmoutier2.jpg" alt="A photo of a young woman, apparently Nettie again. This is a close-up photo, in which Nettie is holding a book to her chest. A sprig of dried flowers sticks out of the book. Nettie is wearing a plain white blouse with a light-colored cardigan over it, and although the image cuts off just above her lips, you can tell that she is staring at the sea, which is blurry in the background." style="width:100%;max-width:700px"> |==| (set: $OpenedBox4Folder2 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ October 22, 1893 Dear Katherine, I cannot abide this anymore. I have started this letter and crossed out the words and crumpled paper more times than I can count -- but I think if I do not write down something I am likely to explode, and for perhaps the first time in my life, the difficulty I usually have with expressing myself in words is outweighed by the sheer force of the words themselves. I love you. I love you? I think that must be what I feel, this dizzy yearning that addles my heart and head alike. I do not go a single waking hour without thinking of you. I leaf through the photographs you left with us and sketch your face over and over, hoping I can somehow capture the sparkle I always see in your eyes. I miss you even when you are next to me. I feel this chasm between us, one that I want to bridge by reaching for your hands, your face, your lips -- but I never do, never can. Instead I simply sit there, staring at the space between us on the settee, no more than a few inches but at the same time the vastest of oceans. I have always felt set apart from others in that way, as if I am stranded on a small island, staring at the mainland and the people on it with no way to reach them. But you, Katherine... you make me want to brave the water. You make me want to swim. Even as I write these lines, I wonder if you know my feelings already, if you have known them for longer than I have. You must remember the last time you were here, when I walked into the guest bedroom and saw you (all of you) modeling for George's painting. You asked if I was quite alright, and truthfully I could not muster up the breath or the wits to answer. All I could think was that I understood what you meant in that letter from last year, about women having a fluid, art-nouveau beauty. I could see it in your every curve. And of course, just when I had recovered about three of my wits, you asked me to lace up your corset as you dressed again. I wondered then, as I do now, if you could feel my shaking hands at your back. Part of me quite plainly forgot how to lace a corset. Part of me also did not want to lace you up. I still return to that moment in my mind, imagine unlacing your corset rather than doing it up. I do not know what to imagine from there. George has just entered the room, by the way, and is encouraging me not to be so timid. He says I should seal this letter and drop it in the mail posthaste, so that I do not once more frighten myself out of informing you of my feelings. As reluctant as I am to admit it, he is right. So I will finish this letter and seal the envelope with wax and a kiss, and then I will take it downstairs for tomorrow's outgoing mail. There will be nothing I can take back, and nothing more I can do until you return from America -- nothing save read your other letters over and over again. If I concentrate enough, I can still remember what your voice sounds like. I long to hear it again, even if the next thing you say to me is a rebuke. I long to see you again, even if you come merely to tell me good-bye. Until then, though, please know that you have my entire heart, a heart I barely knew existed until you came into my life. It will be yours no matter what you say next. With the utmost affection and trepidation, Louisa ] (set: $LouisaLetter to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 5]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox5Folder2 is false)[Among the ephemera in the box, you find a postcard...](else:)[You've found a postcard...] <img src="images\box5\folder2\postcardfront.jpg" alt="The front of a postcard. It features a torso-up drawing of a woman in the center (and, mysteriously, a random cherub off to the side). The text reads, 'I have known many, liked a few, Loved but one - so here's to you!'" style="max-width: 500px;"> <img src="images\box5\folder2\postcardback.jpg" alt="The back of a postcard. The text reads simply 'here's to you, K' and it's signed with 'L'. In the top left corner and on the right side are drawings of flowers, possibly violets." style="width:100%"> ...a flirty calling card... <img src="images\box5\folder2\flirtycallingcard.jpg" alt="A calling card, but for a specific purpose. The left side has a neck-up drawing of a woman with her curly hair in a fancy updo. The text reads, 'Your coral lips were made to kiss, I stoutly will maintain; And dare you say my lovely miss, That aught was made in vain? YOURS TRULY,' - and then a box, in which is written 'KJR to LGM'. Below the box is the text 'PLEASE ANSWER'."> A few miscellaneous pictures... =|= <img src="images\box5\folder2\1890s_Louisa_garden.jpg" alt="A picture of Louisa in a lush garden, with a house visible in the background."> Labeled "L in garden, 1896" =|= <img src="images\box5\folder2\1900s_Louisa_cactus.jpg" alt="A picture of Louisa next to a large cactus."> Labeled "L in Arizona, 1902" |==| =|= <img src="images\box5\folder2\1910s_Katherine_George.jpg" alt="A picture of Katherine and George. George is standing in the water, pants up to his knees, and lifting a laughing Katherine."> "K and G at Brighton 1909. L nearly dropped camera!" =||= <img src="images\box5\folder2\1910s_Louisa_squirrel.jpg" alt="A picture of Louisa, bundled up for the snow and viewed in profile, because she's looking at a squirrel perched on her shoulder."> "L in Maine with a friend, 1916" - the friend being a squirrel, apparently. |==| ...and a torn-out botanical illustration of a violet, with Louisa's handwriting on it. <img src="images\box5\folder2\sappholitho.jpg" alt="A botanical illustration of a violet, probably from some old book. Louisa has written on it, in fragments, 'with many a garland of violets / thou hast decked thy flowing locks / by my side'."> (set: $OpenedBox5Folder2 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 5]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox8Folder1 is false)[Three things fall out of this envelope when you open it: two letters (one from Louisa to Katherine, the other a reply), and — to your surprise — what appears to be a nude photograph of //Louisa.// Louisa, who supposedly never posed for her husband's pictures... but posed for Katherine's camera, although perhaps only once.](else:)[This envelope contains a letter from Louisa to Katherine, Katherine's reply, and (surprisingly) a nude photograph of Louisa, taken by Katherine.] [[View Louisa's letter|Box 8, Folder 1, Louisa's letter]] [[View Katherine's reply|Box 8, Folder 1, Katherine's reply]] [[View nude photograph of Louisa|Box 8, Folder 1, nude photo]] (set: $OpenedBox8Folder1 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 8]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox8Folder2 is false)[This file folder is chock full of... well, you can't quite tell on first glance, but you're pretty sure a lot of these things these count as ephemera. Paper scraps, ticket stubs, newspaper or magazine clippings, goodness only knows what else. You're a bit petrified of messing up the original order, so you thumb through the pile as carefully as you can. After your initial inspection, you identify a few things you might want to look at further.](else:)[This folder contains an assortment of ephemera.] [[View letter addressed to Louisa|Box 8, Folder 2, letter]] [[View receipt from an art dealer|Box 8, Folder 2, receipt]] [[View baggage tag|Box 8, Folder 2, baggage tag]] [[View small envelope|Box 8, Folder 2, envelope]] (set: $OpenedBox8Folder2 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 8]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

Here's what you've found, or some of it at least. You now need to decide what to tell, and show, your employers. (if: $StudioPhotos is false)[Who do you think painted this picture? (dropdown: bind $Whodunnit, "George Marshall","Someone else","I don't know")](if: $StudioPhotos is true)[Who do you think painted this picture? (dropdown: bind $Whodunnit, "George Marshall", "Louisa Marshall", "Katherine Randolph", "Someone else", "I don't know")] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[The letter from Pierre Beaulieu about the painting, and the 1914 Salon du Champs-du-Mars. (checkbox: bind $SharePierre, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $SalonCatalogPage is true)[The catalog page from the 1914 Salon du Champs-du-Mars, which confirms a painting under George Marshall's name by the title of //Le rivage doré lumineux.// (checkbox: bind $ShareSalon, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $Sketchbook1 is true)[A sketchbook that belonged to Louisa Marshall. (checkbox: bind $ShareSketchbook, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $LouisaLetter is true)[A letter from Louisa, in which she confesses to being in love with Katherine. (checkbox: bind $ShareLouisa, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $CanvasReceipt is true)[A receipt from an art dealer in Nantes, for the purchase of a canvas the same size as the painting. (checkbox: bind $ShareReceipt, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $BaggageTag is true)[A railway baggage tag for a canvas, with Louisa Marshall's name on it. (checkbox: bind $ShareTag, "Share with your employers?") ](if: $StudioPhotos is true)[Photos taken by Katherine, apparently in an art studio on the island of Noirmoutier in France, depicting Louisa painting. (checkbox: bind $SharePhotos, "Share with your employers?")] [[Share what you've found...]] --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] ---

You show Pierre's letter (if: $ShareSalon is true)[and the Salon catalog page] to your employers. That seems like enough proof of provenance to you, at least to establish that George Marshall painted this picture. Your employers seem to agree, and the painting goes up for auction without a hitch. A private collector buys it for a respectable sum. Still, though, a few lingering questions stay in the back of your head. Why did Katherine Randolph have George and Louisa Marshall's papers after their deaths? What was she to George, or even to Louisa? And why would George have painted his wife and his mistress, nude, in the same painting? Maybe the papers in the archive have more answers, or maybe they'd just raise more questions. You'd like to go back and see someday, but your job is much like Priya's — there's always more to be done... --- [[Play again|enter name]] [[Credits]] ---

You decide to only show Pierre's letter (if: $ShareSalon is true)[and the Salon catalog page] to your employers. You can't get Louisa's letter out of your head, though. //She// was the one who loved Katherine. Maybe that's why they were both in the painting together. George wasn't painting his wife and his mistress: he was painting his wife and her lover. Maybe you should have told your employers that too. For now, though, that particular truth will stay archived. --- [[Play again|enter name]] [[Credits]] ---

You show your employers Pierre's letter to George(if: $ShareSalon is true)[, the Salon catalog page,] and Louisa's letter to Katherine. Because that changes the story of the painting, doesn't it? George wasn't painting both his wife and mistress, you're pretty sure. He was painting his wife and her lover. The press seems to agree, because this newly uncovered love story makes headlines -- and the painting sells for a bigger sum than expected as a result. The museum that buys it is planning to do a special program on Louisa and Katherine as part of the painting's exhibition premiere. The world is fascinated by Louisa Marshall and Katherine Randolph now. As are you, to be honest. You often find yourself wondering what other secrets the rest of the Marshall papers have, or what other questions they'd raise. You'd like to go back and see someday, but your job is much like Priya's — there's always more to be done... --- [[Play again|enter name]] [[Credits]] ---

Here's the painting itself. <img src="images\box0\painting1.jpg" alt="A painting, oil on canvas, depicting two nude women laying in the sand on a beach. One is brunette, one is blonde-ish, and they appear to be engaged in conversation. They are surrounded by sand and tufts of green grass. The sea in front of them is bright blue, and the sky above them is filled with puffy clouds."> And here's what you know about it: * It was discovered in a shipping container at a French port about two months prior. * Your painting-conservator colleagues at the auction house have examined the picture with all their sciencey equipment. Based on the pigments used, the canvas, &c, they can date it to between 1900 and 1920, but nothing more exact than that yet. * One of the women in the picture (the lighter-haired one) is probably Louisa Farrens Marshall (1870-1944), George's wife. Not that she's recognizable from any of George's paintings -- although she's appeared in a few of his works, her face is rarely visible -- but between those existing works and the photographs of her that survive, it's a reasonable guess. * The darker-haired woman is a bit harder to identify, but your colleagues and the art historians they've consulted believe she is Katherine Randolph (1872-1952). Randolph posed nude for one of George Marshall's other paintings, [[//Early to Rise// (1894)|Early to Rise]]; scholars have previously theorized that Randolph was George Marshall's mistress. * The location in the painting is unknown, but the back of the canvas itself has a worn paper sticker from an art supplier in Nantes. * There's no immediately obvious accession number from an art dealer, which seems odd because the vast majority of George Marshall's known paintings were acquired and sold by the Parisian dealer Pierre Beaulieu. --- (if: $FindingAid is true)[[[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]]](else:)[[[Get set up for research|intro to research setup]]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

When you ask about the collection, Priya sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "This collection is unprocessed. It came to us in the late 1990s, I think, and my predecessor did a quick inventory for appraisal purposes, but we haven't had time to properly go through it since then." "The late '90s?" you ask. "Seems like a long time for these things to sit." "Oh, trust me, that's like nothing in archival time," Priya laughs. "I think we've got a few unprocessed collections from the 1970s around here somewhere." You haven't been to very many archives before. You realize now that you kind of assumed everything would be described and available, like in a library. "Why has it taken so long?" you ask. "It all comes down to money," Priya answers ruefully. "Even time fundamentally comes down to money. The EAVEA is fairly well-funded, but with the size of our backlog, it would take far more labor than even we could afford to get everything processed in the next several years. And we've always got people and institutional interests competing for priorities, too. We might get a grant to focus on one collection, but then there are other collections for frankly better-known artists that are more in demand by researchers that we should also focus on, oh and then an important donor wants us to digitize everything in a particular collection and has no understanding of how much //equipment// that takes, let alone time and effort..." You're starting to understand now. "Sounds like there's never enough time or money for everything, so you have to just get //something// done." "Exactly," Priya replies. "Triage, prioritize, try to piss off as few people as possible. Especially the people who give you money." You nod. "So back to the collection. Who exactly gave it to you? Was it George Marshall's..." You trail off, because you realize you don't actually know if George and Louisa Marshall had descendants. Priya shakes her head. "No, interestingly enough, it came to us through a descendant of Katherine Randolph. Not a direct one, like her great-niece or something." Now that's a surprise. "Katherine Randolph?" you repeat. "Wasn't she supposedly George's mistress?" "That part I don't know about, and I wouldn't be inclined to guess till I knew more," Priya says, shrugging. "Fair enough." You think for a moment. "Still interesting, though. Whether or not Katherine Randolph //was// George's mistress, she was close enough with the Marshalls to have kept their records, or for them to have trusted her with the records after they died." "You're right, that is interesting." Priya frowns thoughtfully. She is, rather uncharacteristically, silent for a few seconds. "Maybe you'll find something in there that'll shed more light on it." "Let's hope," you agree. "May not be my main purpose here, but I'm still curious about it." "Honestly? Same here." --- (if: $FindingAid is true)[[[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]]](else:)[[[Thank Priya and get to work|intro to research setup]]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

The most intriguing things in this box are a couple of small leather-bound address books. One has a fancy "KR" monogram of sorts on the front. No single entry seems remarkable to you, but each name has at least one date associated with it. These dates range from the late 1880s to the late 1890s. There's a mix of American and British addresses, but you can see pretty clearly that the American addresses only go up to 1892. The other is unmarked on the front. You don't recognize every single name, nor does every name have an address associated with it, but a few people are familiar nonetheless — Pierre Beaulieu (George's art dealer), and also Natalie Clifford Barney, Kit Anstruther-Thompson, and Renee Vivien. There's also a "John Radclyffe Hall." The name "Radclyffe Hall" rings a bell... (set: $OpenedBox2 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox3 is false)[In this box, you find what looks like a sketchbook, with "Marshall" written on the inside cover. Something about the handwriting looks off, but you couldn't say what. You flip through the sketchbook, and a few pages strike you as noteworthy.](else:)[This box contains the sketchbook you found. Here are the pages that caught your eye.] <img src="images\box3\sketchbook2.jpg" alt="Two pages from a sketchbook. The left page has a drawing of a little girl, playing with a doll that she's set on a chair. The caption reads, 'Mother says I can practice giving tea parties with you. But that's nonsense, you can't even drink tea.' The right page has a drawing of a man on a penny-farthing bicycle, with a huge front wheel and tiny back wheel. The caption reads, 'high horses are out of fashion'."> The script is a bit hard to read, but you can make it out well enough. Left: "Mother says I can practice giving tea parties with you. But that's nonsense, you can't even drink tea." Right: "high horses are out of fashion" <img src="images\box3\sketchbook1.jpg" alt="Two pages from a sketchbook. The left page has two drawings and the right has one. Top left is a mess of scribbles with a woman's head on the right. Inside the scribbles are the phrases 'no utterance left' and 'my tongue has broken down'. Bottom left is a woman in a corset, viewed from the front. The caption reads, 'for when I see thee but a little... a trembling overtakes all my body (and I have seen a lot of thee)'. Right drawing is also of a woman in a corset, but viewed from the back and much more detailed (obviously done with care). The caption up top reads 'laced tightly', and there's an additional note near the cinch of the woman's waist, 'too tightly?'."> At top left, inside the scribbles: "no utterance left" and "my tongue has broken down" Bottom left: "for when I see thee but a little... a trembling overtakes all my body (and I have seen a lot of thee)" Right: "laced tightly", and then further down the page, "(too tightly?)" (set: $Sketchbook1 to true)(set: $OpenedBox3 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox6 is false)[Somehow, all this box contains is sheet music. //So// much sheet music. A fair amount of it is bound in one of those lovely books you know people in this era occasionally had for their personal sheet music collections; this book has the GLM monogram emblazoned on the front. Plenty more is just loose, though, stacked in a couple piles. On the one hand, you would probably get way too sidetracked if you went through every single sheet. On the other hand, clearly music was important to the Marshalls. You decide to look through just the bound book for now.](else:)[This box contains the Marshalls' extensive sheet music collection.] Some of the highlights: * Nocturne No. 1 in B-flat Minor, by Chopin * Liebestraume by Liszt (what looks to be an easier arrangement than the original) * Andante Con Sentimento by Clara Schumann * Piano Sonata No. 8 by Beethoven (AKA Sonata Pathetique) * Intermezzo in A Major by Brahms * At least three different piano arrangements of Greensleeves * "I Cannot Sing the Old Songs" and "Maggie's Secret" by Claribel * "Only at Home" by Virginia Gabriel * Two songs with lyrics by Radclyffe Hall, "The Silver Rose" and "Willow Wand" * One song with lyrics by Renee Vivien, "Roses du soir" (set: $OpenedBox6 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox7 is false)[When you open this box, you immediately see the smaller box labeled "Beaulieu" that Priya mentioned to you. A quick glance confirms that the papers therein are mostly in date order, which is a relief. Time to see what Pierre Beaulieu knew about this mystery painting, if anything.](else:)[This box contains a smaller box labeled "Beaulieu," which contains materials related to George's art dealer and the business of his art in general.] [[Look through correspondence|Box 7, Folder 1]] (set: $OpenedBox7 to true) --- [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

This album, in contrast to the others, houses Katherine's more artistic photographs. There's a small assortment of photos featuring women posing with flowers in various ways. There's also one image of a nude woman recognizable as Katherine, although in much heavier makeup than what you've seen. She is crouched by a pedestal, atop which is a statue of a nude woman. The back has what could be a title, in quotes: "Translating Sappho". [[View artsy photographs|Box 4, Folder 4, artsy]] [[View nude photo of Katherine|Box 4, Folder 4, nude photo]] --- [[Back to box|Box 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox4Folder3 is false)[This album contains images of... well, someone's social life, at any rate. Katherine may have taken the photos (since they're in this collection, after all), but you're not sure you recognize any of the subjects, especially as George or Louisa. The people in these pictures certainly seem to be enjoying themselves, though.](else:)[This album contains images of people you can't identify. Katherine may have taken the photos, but you're not sure you see George or Louisa.] <img src="images\box4\folder3\1900s_beach1.jpg" alt="A photo of five women on a beach, relaxing in beach chairs. There are five men around them, in the left and right corners, but none of their faces are visible. The women are clearly the focus of the picture." style="width:100%;max-width:700px"> <img src="images\box4\folder3\1900s_beach2.jpg" alt="A photo of two women sitting in chairs on a beach, and a third person of indeterminate gender further in the background. The closest woman to the camera is in profile, wearing a white coat. The other woman is a little further back, facing the camera and wearing darker attire. Despite their presence at the beach, their clothes indicate it isn't swimming season." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> <img src="images\box4\folder3\1900s_picnic.jpg" alt="A photo of about eighteen people, men and women, sitting in close quarters on a lawn. They are in front of a tree you can't identify, and it looks as if lively conversation was happening as the photo was being taken. Two or three tables with chairs are visible in the background." style="width:100%;max-width:700px"> (set: $OpenedBox4Folder3 to true) --- [[Back to box|Box 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

[[Box 1]] [[Box 2]] [[Box 3]] [[Box 4]] [[Box 5]] [[Box 6]] [[Box 7]]* [[Box 8]] (set: $FindingAid to true) --- [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box1\folder2\callingcard1.5.png" alt="The front of a calling card. A spray of violets adorns the upper left corner, and the name on the card is Katherine Randolph." class="centeredImage smallDocument"> <img src="images\box1\folder2\callingcard2.5.png" alt="The back of a calling card. Written on the card is a note: 'By the by, I loved your drawing. - K'" class="centeredImage smallDocument"> --- [[Back to folder|Box 1, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

This game was created and written by Whitney Thompson, for LIS-S581 Archives and Records Management at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. --- ''Acknowledgements'' Thank you to Denise Rayman, my instructor, for telling me I could go with this wild idea I had for the teaching assignment. Thanks also to Gary Maixner (and to Denise for suggesting I talk to you!) — our conversation about game design opened up so many doors for me. And thanks to Sarah Haug, who gamely answered my extremely specific hypothetical questions about art appraisal and authentication, as well as Alex Seiler, who helped me ensure my Sappho references were as historically accurate as possible. My beta testers and other technical support experts for this game were Will Kelly, Megan Wegenke, and Sean Cairns, and they all deserve massive shout-outs. I'd also like to extend particular gratitude to Pexels users cottonbro and Suzy Hazelwood. Many of the royalty-free images I used to create the records herein came from them, and indeed these images fueled parts of the story in ways I could not have imagined when I started. Because I'm not nearly talented enough to paint an actual Edwardian-era picture myself, I reappropriated an existing one to serve as the story's catalyst — //Piger på stranden, Båstad (Girls on the beach, Båstad)// by Paul Gustav Fischer. The other painting for which Katherine posed is one of his as well, //Model på sengekanten i skæret fra en rod natbordslampe//. All due respect and apologies to him. Apologies as well to Henri Marret, whose fourth work in the 1914 Salon du Champs-des-Mars I had to edit out of the official catalog for narrative purposes. I'm sure //Les grandes arbres (fresques)// is a perfectly lovely work. Lastly, I'd like to thank all the artists — painters, writers, and filmmakers alike — who inspired me while I was coming up with this story. Nothing creative is ever made in a vacuum, and indeed I think the best art is actively in conversation with the world around it. * //Fake or Fortune//, BBC show (available for free on Tubi) * //Portrait of a Lady on Fire// (2019), dir. Celine Sciamma * //The Picture of Dorian Gray//, Oscar Wilde * //Le Sommeil//, Gustave Courbet * //Au lit, le baiser//, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec * Vittorio Reggianini and the women in his paintings * Helena Janecic, who paints images of queer life in the Balkans * Xenia Hausner * //Two Women in Bed Disturbed by a Cat// by Jean Alphonse Roehn * //Artist and Model//, Jean-Louis Forain * //Ladies in a Sailing Boat//, Jules Cayron * //Women Dressing//, William McGregor Paxton * //The Two Bathers//, Marie Clementine Valadon * //Baigneuses au repos//, Jules Ballavoine * //De quoi parlent les jeunes filles//, Frederick Arthur Bridgman * //Boarding-School Friends// (1837, artist apparently unknown) (P.S. A more detailed references page can be found [[here|Works Cited]] if you really want to get into the academic weeds with me.) --- [[Play again from beginning|enter name]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ August 2, 1914 Dear M. Marshall, I must congratulate you on your acceptance to the Salon du Champs-du-Mars. I know very well how competitive the field is, so this success is a testament to both your hard work and your talent. However, I also must admit some surprise, because I do not believe you had told me you were working on this particular painting. I saw the picture with my own eyes when I visited the jurors a few days previously, and I have no memory of us discussing either the title or the subject matter. We have been friends and business partners for a great many years, my dear George, so I trust that you would not break the terms of our contract. Nevertheless, I would like for us to have a chat sometime soon, so that we may perhaps negotiate the sale of this fine work. Please give my best to Mdme. Marshall and Mme. Randolph, as always. Your friend, Pierre P.S. I am also curious about your models for this work. The woman on the right looks a bit like Mdme. Marshall, but surely she would not have agreed to pose for this? ] You should probably show this to your bosses at the auction house. (set: $PierreLetter to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 7, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box7\folder1\catalogpage_Salon1914.jpg" alt="A page from the 1914 catalog of the Salon de Champs-du-Mars, specifically the list of paintings exhibited, alphabetical by artist. George Marshall's name is the second one down. The painting is number 838, and the title is given as 'Le rivage doré lumineux.'" style="max-width: 488px;"> A page from the 1914 catalog of the Salon de Champs-du-Mars. (set: $SalonCatalogPage to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 7, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(if: $OpenedBox7Folder1Contract is false)[The contract is typewritten, so thank heavens you don't have to read Edwardian handwriting this time. It's also in French, however, and you're not too confident in your French skills. You scan the document with an app on your phone and email it to your auction house coworker Yvonne, asking for a translation. It's not long before she replies, sending you what she sees as the most interesting bits.](else:)[The translation of an excerpt from George Marshall's contract with Pierre Beaulieu.] (b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ Under the terms of this agreement, Mr Marshall agrees to produce twelve paintings of the quality for which he is known, to be acquired and sold exclusively by Mr Beaulieu. Mr Marshall agrees that these twelve paintings will be made in succession, without interruption. He will not accept new orders or commissions from entities not part of this agreement unless and until he has completed the twelve agreed-upon paintings for the year covered by this contract. Further, Mr Marshall waives the right to sell any of his paintings to dealers other than Mr Beaulieu. He acknowledges that in doing so, he still has the right to sell his work to amateurs. He also acknowledges that selling his paintings to other dealers would create competition for Mr Beaulieu, which would not be in anyone’s best interest. ] (set: $OpenedBox7Folder1Contract to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 7, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

Baetens, J. D. “Vanguard Economics, Rearguard Art: Gustave Couteaux and the Modernist Myth of the Dealer-Critic System.” //Oxford Art Journal//, vol. 33, no. 1, Mar. 2010, pp. 25–41, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxartj/kcq001. Denny, Margaret. “Royals, Royalties and Remuneration: American and British Women Photographers in the Victorian Era.” //Women’s History Review//, vol. 18, no. 5, Nov. 2009, pp. 801–18, https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020903282183. Edmonds, J. M. “Three Fragments of Sappho.” //The Classical Review//, vol. 23, no. 4, June 1909, pp. 99–104, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x00003115. Society of American Archivists. “Dictionary of Archives Terminology.” //Archivists.org//, dictionary.archivists.org/. ---. “Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy.” //Archivists.org//, June 2018, www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/Guidelines%20for%20Primary%20Souce%20Literacy_AsApproved062018_1.pdf. Wharton, Henry Thornton. //Sappho. Memoir, Text, Selected Renderings, and a Literal Transliteration.// London, J. Lane; Chicago, A.C. Mcclurg & Co, 1895, gutenberg.org/cache/epub/57390/pg57390-images.html. --- [[Back to credits|Credits]] ---

"You've never done archival research before?" Priya asks, with a quizzical head tilt. You shake your head. You're feeling a little embarrassed at being so green, but Priya doesn't seem like the sort to condescend. "I mean, I've taken history classes. Written research papers, all that. And I've had a bit of training on the job. But this is the first big research trip I've been on... well, ever." "Course, yeah," Priya replies. "Well, I can tell you a few basic things. The whole collection, George Marshall's records specifically, is about twenty-five cubic feet — how much space it takes up," she adds. "You've got a little under eleven cubic feet right here." "Really? That's, what, close to half the collection?" "I know," she sighs. "In essence, these papers are unprocessed. All we know about them comes from the appraisal my predecessor did when she decided whether to acquire the collection. Actual processing, arranging and describing the records in a finding aid so that they can be found and used by people, that's a whole other stage. And it can be enormously time-consuming." You cast a sideways glance at the small army of boxes. "Seems like." "Mmhmm. Even if we were to do MPLP — oh, sorry," she says as your eyebrows shoot up. "More Product, Less Process. Basically it's this idea that if you do the absolute minimum level of description possible for people to find things in a collection, you can get through your backlog faster." She grimaces. "Those are moving targets, though. What counts as minimum? How long does that take? Will archives ever stop acquiring collections and thereby growing the backlog?" "I feel like the answer to that last one is no," you laugh. Priya laughs as well. "Unfortunately, you're correct. The backlog reigns eternal." "Pretty sure that's true of every job." "Oh, almost certainly." "So..." You gesture vaguely at the boxes. "If you know barely anything about what's in here, how am I supposed to find things? Just by looking?" Priya lets out a heavy sigh. "Essentially, yes. It's not all hopeless, though, don't worry. See, there's this one archival principle called 'original order,' or 'respect des fonds' if you want to sound fancy. The idea is, there's a reason records come to us in the order they do. The order, as it's presented here—" she nods to the boxes — "meant something to the creator, or the donor, whoever arranged things in that way. So I guarantee you, no matter how chaotic a collection might seem, there are always little bits of order to be found in there." "I think I see what you mean," you say. "That sounds like it'll help." Priya grins. "Brilliant. Anything else I can do for you?" [[Ask about the collection|background on collection]] [[Thank Priya and get to work|intro to research setup]] ---

=|= <img src="images\box4\folder4\Katherine_artsy1.jpg" alt="A photo of an unidentified woman. She is sitting with her back to the camera, but she is looking over her left shoulder. Most of her face is blocked from view by some large white flowers that could be roses." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> <img src="images\box4\folder4\Katherine_artsy3.jpg" alt="A photo of an unidentified woman. The picture is a close-up of her face and neck, but her eyes and most of her nose are just out of frame. A few locks of curly hair fall around her face, and around her neck is a choker made of roses." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> =|= <img src="images\box4\folder4\Katherine_artsy2.jpg" alt="A photo of an unidentified woman. The picture is a close-up of her face. Several roses are bound with gauze over her eyes." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> <img src="images\box4\folder4\Katherine_artsy4.jpg" alt="A photo of an unidentified woman. In a departure from the other photos, her whole face is visible, and she's holding a bouquet of what look like dried flowers (not roses this time). Her curly hair is in some sort of updo, but a few strands frame her face. She looks right at the camera, not hampered or mediated by flowers or framing choices." style="width:100%;max-width:400px"> |==| These are lovely. A good bit more... abstract, almost, than normal portraits. Did Katherine ever share these? --- [[Back to folder|Box 4, Folder 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

<img src="images\box4\folder4\1910s_Katherine_nude.jpg" alt="A photo of Katherine Randolph, in much heavier makeup than you've seen thus far. She is crouched by a pedestal, atop which is a statue of a nude woman. The back has what could be a title, in quotes: 'Translating Sappho'." style="width:100%;max-width:800px"> Recognizable as Katherine Randolph. The back of the photo contains what could be a title, in quotes: "Translating Sappho." --- [[Back to folder|Box 4, Folder 4]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ February 3, 1913 My dearest Katherine, and you know you are truly that — How I miss you. This is hardly the first time we have had to be apart for some months, and yet I feel your absence just as keenly as I did nearly twenty years ago. Perhaps even more keenly, for when we were first exchanging letters I did not have words for what I felt. I merely had my drawings, my scribbles and quotes from others’ poetry. I could hardly have mailed pages from my sketchbook to you without seeming an unrepentant madwoman, even if I had wanted to share those scribbles with anyone else. And I know when you read that sentence, you will tut, clicking your tongue like always, and say, “Louisa, must you persist in downplaying your own talent?” You have told me many times over the years that I should share my talents, and when I protest that I share them with you and George and our closest friends, you speak of larger stages and larger crowds. Darling, you of all people should know the inherent contradiction of my existence: I love watching people, studying them by way of art, but I despise being seen in return. I put too much of myself into my work. Art critics are more often than not vulturous sorts, ready to swoop in and feed on the carcasses of artists whether or not they (or their careers) are actually dead. I have no interest in critics’ opinions to begin with, and I especially could never willingly expose my flesh, my heart, to their cruel beaks. That is what I have been trying to say for years, Katherine: I do not desire, have never desired, artistic success in the same manner that you and George do. I am happy, thrilled even, to make art solely for the enjoyment of myself and my closest confidantes. I am satisfied with creating quietly, living quietly, loving quietly. Perhaps in another world or time, I would feel differently, less afraid to show my work and my heart to others. But this is the world we live in, for better or worse — although I will say, not for the first or last time, that you have absolutely changed my world for the better. I hope you will not be too cross with me upon reading this. Write back soon, please. I miss you dreadfully. Ever yours, Louisa ] --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ February 26, 1913 Louisa, my heart: Truth be told, I have dithered about how to begin this letter for a few days now. I apologize, therefore, for the scattershot nature of my thoughts. At this point, I feel it is better to say things and make sense of them later. Firstly: if I have ever pushed you to do something you did not want, please know I am deeply sorry. Your manifold talents are yours to share exactly as you wish, and I promise I will support you however I can in that respect. I have been guilty, I think, of looking at the world with rose-tinted glasses. Some part of me cannot fathom the idea that the world would not see you as I do, as an eagle-eyed chronicler adept with brush and pen and paint and ink alike. However... you always say I am far braver than you to face the world and its critics head-on, but in truth I have been (and still am) frightened every time I share my work or my self. It really is a peculiarly vulnerable feeling. I have developed a thick skin over the years, but it is by no means impenetrable. All this, and yet I still find myself wanting to shout from every rooftop about how much I love you. I know there would be consequences and gossip, I know you would be seen in the exact way you despise, so I would never subject you to it. But my darling... every day for the past twenty years, even when we have been apart, you have made me so happy I could burst into song, or blossom like a tree, or walk on water. I feel as if I might explode from it, and yet when I go about my business in the world I must somehow hide the sunlight in my heart. I know why you crave privacy -- believe me, I do. I also want desperately to tell the world that you, Louisa Grace Marshall, are the most important muse, and the greatest love, of my life. I do not say this in hopes of persuading you to change your mind about anything. I only know that as long as we have been together, I have told you I love you a thousand times and in a thousand ways, and none of them have ever felt sufficient to describe what you are to me. This letter will probably not feel sufficient either. But if I cannot speak of this, I can at least write about it to you. I can at least try. I should be returning to England next month. I will write with further details when I have made the travel arrangements, and in the meantime I shall count the days and hours until I feel your hands in mine once more. Your beloved Katherine ] --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box8\folder1\Louisa_nude.jpg" alt="A photo of Louisa Marshall, completely nude but for a thin woven blanket covering her knees and below. Her legs are crossed, and on her thigh rests what may be a mandolin. She holds the neck of the instrument with her right hand, and her left hand is woven into her hair, which is down. She sits on a bench draped with a few other blankets, and her left elbow rests lightly on a woven basket." style="max-width: 500px;"> A photo of a woman recognizable as Louisa Marshall. It is undated. --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 1]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ Darling: Come to Noirmoutier with me this summer. My family has holidayed there for decades. We have a lovely, spacious cottage and a room that is positively begging to be used as an art studio. You would scarcely believe how deeply the sunlight imbues everything, how temperate the ocean always is, how soft the sand feels under your toes. It's the most beautiful place I know in the whole world, and the only thing that could make it more beautiful is you. Let me know, and I shall arrange for us to have the cottage to ourselves for as long as you please. Just us, together in a place as close to paradise as any I know. Yours with love, Katherine ] --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box8\folder2\receipt_sans_price.jpg" alt="A receipt from M. Bourdeaux, an art supplier, for one canvas. Bourdeaux received payment from Louisa Marshall." class="centeredImage smallDocument"> A receipt from M. Bourdeaux, an art supplier, for one canvas. Bourdeaux received payment from Louisa Marshall. (set: $CanvasReceipt to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box8\folder2\baggagetag.jpg" alt="A railway baggage claim tag that appears to have been attached to a canvas. The starting point for the journey is Nantes, and the destination is Villeneuve-en-Retz."> A railway baggage claim tag that appears to have been attached to a canvas. The starting point for the journey is Nantes, and the destination is Villeneuve-en-Retz. (set: $BaggageTag to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

The envelope contains three photos. <img src="images\box8\folder2\Louisa_studio1.jpg" alt="A photo of Louisa Marshall in an art studio. She sits in a wicker chair, at about a three-quarter angle, and stares straight at the camera. She wears a loose white shirt, cropped pants that probably aren't hers, and an apron. Paintbrushes poke out of the apron's front pocket, and she holds another paintbrush. Her curly hair is pulled back but still messy." class="centeredImage"> <img src="images\box8\folder2\Louisa_studio4.jpg" alt="A photo of Louisa Marshall in an art studio. She sits in a wicker chair and gazes at something beyond the camera. She wears a loose white shirt, cropped pants that probably aren't hers, and an apron. Paintbrushes poke out of the apron's front pocket, and she holds another paintbrush -- touching her lower lip with it, almost as if she's thinking. Her curly hair is pulled back but still messy." class="centeredImage"> <img src="images\box8\folder2\Louisa_studio3.jpg" alt="A photo of Louisa Marshall in an art studio. She is standing at an easel, clearly in the middle of painting, She wears a loose white shirt, cropped pants that probably aren't hers, and an apron. Her curly hair is pulled back but still messy." class="centeredImage" style="max-width: 500px;"> On the backs of all of these photos is an identical inscription, in Katherine's handwriting: "LGM in studio at Noirmoutier, 1914". (set: $StudioPhotos to true) --- [[Back to folder|Box 8, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ November 15, 1892 Dear Louisa, First I must tell you how I laughed when I saw the cartoon you enclosed. I would almost pity Mr Jacques if I did not know what he did to deserve such lampooning. I know you are too gentle to ever consider redressing him more publicly, but consider: we both know he deserves it, and his reaction would turn your drawing from caricature to portraiture. On that subject: you asked how I find inspiration when I spend so much time taking photographs for business rather than for art. You are correct in that portraits are my work, not my art. That is not to say work is the opposite of art, though. Every moment I spend in the studio helps me know my camera better, learn about posing, learn about lighting. Even if I find myself once again taking a photograph of a screaming infant just dipped in some chilly baptismal font, I am still spending time with my camera, with my craft. And I bring all of that to the art I want to make, that I try to make. I was in France before I met you. The new style of architecture that is the craze in Paris is captivating. Art nouveau, they call it. But I do not think it is so nouveau as people imagine. I look at the ornamentation on a door, or the flowing lines and figures on cheaply printed advertisements, and I simply see the way nature has always been, the way flowers curl around and reach for the sun and blossom. And then there are the women in art nouveau, nymphs with flowing hair and curves like a cello—what is new about this? Women have always had this kind of beauty. It is only nouveau because the men are finally realizing it. I have often wondered whether photography can capture the fluidity of the nouveau look. One has to stay so still for portraits, most of the time, so one becomes stiff and solid. But I believe there must be a way for photography to capture, or to suggest, motion and life. I want to make pictures that are like those posters I see, but instead of creating a reality, my photographs will depict it. I believe I can do it. God willing, someday I will find the right equipment... and the right model. This was perhaps a long answer to a short question, for which I apologize. I suppose in a few words, I find inspiration in people. Women especially, but people in general. That is why I never tire of my work or my art — because people are constantly inspiring me. I am afraid I must cut off this letter for now, because I have ever more work to do, and I am loath to make you wait for a reply on account of my schedule. I promise I will write again soon. Yours, Katherine ] --- [[Back to folder|Box 1, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

(b4r:"double")+(b4r-colour:white)[ December 20, 1892 Dear Katherine, Please don't apologize for long answers to simple questions. I shall never tire of your thoughts, or your seemingly ceaseless energy. We are similar in a few respects, I think. I also find people fascinating; I love watching them and recording what I see in my sketchbooks. However, I can only do so from a distance. Asking people if I may sketch them would be antithetical to my true purpose -- seeing how people act when they think no one else is watching. If I am honest, though, I must also admit I am not brave enough to reach out to people like you do. I do not have the same easy grace in social situations as you or George. I am at my best when I can be quiet and unnoticed, sitting in a corner chair or on a park bench with my sketchbook and recording fleeting moments uninterrupted. That is what I was doing when you found me at that party, the first time we met, so now you might begin to see why I was paler than a ghost at the time. What you must understand, Katherine, is that I never share my drawings with anyone except for George -- and make no mistake, that is because he is my dearest friend, not because he is my husband. (If I may be even more dreadfully honest, we married not for romance, but because we have been friends for so long that neither of us could stand having any other as our constant companion in life.) Ultimately I cannot be angry at you, though. Meeting you and having all these delightful conversations about art and people and that flighty temptress of inspiration -- it has been entirely worth the temporary embarrassment of you seeing my sketch of Lady Mastley strutting about the party like an overgrown peacock. I marvel at your energy, and I also marvel at your work ethic and patience. George could tell you even better than I could, since we are quite literally friends from infancy, but I have few virtues and patience has never been one of them. It is why I prefer sketches rather than painting like George (although I have at times taken it up out of curiosity, with his encouragement), and why I do not think I could ever stand to wait for photographs to develop like you do. Paint dries, photographs develop, but ink or charcoal are committed to paper in a second. I feel I can capture a narrower, more fluid, more authentic moment that way. I will be fascinated to see if you can capture that same fluidity of which you spoke through your photography, and I look forward to seeing even the so-called failed experiments. Alas, I must close this letter as well. We got strong-armed into hosting Christmas this year, and my mother and sisters should arrive within the hour. If I survive the holiday (I jest, but also I cannot jest), I shall eagerly await your next reply. Merriest of Christmases, Louisa ] --- [[Back to folder|Box 1, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

<img src="images\box1\folder2\pressedviolet.png" alt="A pressed violet." class="centeredImage smallDocument"> --- [[Back to folder|Box 1, Folder 2]] [[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] [[Finish your research|you're finished]] ---

You share Pierre's letter to George(if: $ShareSalon is true)[, the Salon catalog page,] and Louisa's letter to Katherine with your employers. Because that changes the story of the painting, doesn't it? George wasn't painting both his wife and mistress, you're pretty sure. He was painting his wife and her lover. The press seems to agree, because this newly uncovered love story makes headlines -- and the painting sells for a bigger sum than expected as a result. The museum that buys it is planning to do a special program on Louisa and Katherine as part of the painting's exhibition premiere. But you've still got some lingering questions. What exactly //was// Louisa painting in those photos Katherine took? Did she paint more pictures? Do any of those pictures survive? Maybe the papers in the archive have more answers, or maybe they'd just raise more questions. You'd like to go back and see someday, but your job is much like Priya's — there's always more to be done... --- [[Play again|welcome]] [[Credits]] ---

You have //so much// to show your employers. When you go back to them, you present what you've found as evidence that not only were Louisa and Katherine lovers (rather than Katherine and George), but Louisa also painted this mystery picture. Your employers agree. There's a little bit of internal debate about how to proceed, but eventually the picture goes up for auction as the only known work of Louisa Marshall. Between its newly realized rarity and the previously hidden love story behind it, the picture sells for a tidy sum. The museum that buys it does so for a permanent exhibition they're developing, specifically about queerness in art history. Both Louisa and Katherine, whose talents were previously lost to history, are now figures of intense scholarly interest. Katherine's collection of photographs goes up for sale as well, and multiple institutions get a share. The EAVEA gets some pressure to sell Louisa's sketchbook, but instead they get funding to digitize it and share her sketches with the world. One researcher gets a grant to research Louisa, and in particular to try to track down any of her surviving works. You never expected to find so much when you walked into the EAVEA building. But you're so glad you did. --- [[Play again|enter name]] [[Credits]] ---

Congratulations! You've completed your archival research and identified documents to show to your employer, which hopefully prove the painting's provenance. (set: bool-type $Ending5 to $SharePierre and $ShareLouisa and ($SharePhotos or $ShareReceipt or $ShareTag))(set: bool-type $Ending4 to $SharePierre and $ShareLouisa and $StudioPhotos)(set: bool-type $Ending3 to $SharePierre and $ShareLouisa)(set: bool-type $Ending2 to $SharePierre and $LouisaLetter)(set: bool-type $Ending1 to $SharePierre) (if: $Ending5 is true and true and true)[[[So what happens next?|ending 5]]](else-if: $Ending4 is true and true and true)[[[So what happens next?|ending 4]]](else-if: $Ending3 is true and true)[[[So what happens next?|ending 3]]](else-if: $Ending2 is true and true)[[[So what happens next?|ending 2]]](else:)[[[So what happens next?|ending 1]]] <script> var sendData = JSON.stringify({ "PlayerName": harlowe.State.variables['PlayerName'], "Whodunnit": harlowe.State.variables['Whodunnit'], "PierreLetter": harlowe.State.variables['PierreLetter'], "SharePierre": harlowe.State.variables['SharePierre'], "SalonCatalogPage": harlowe.State.variables['var5'], "ShareSalon": harlowe.State.variables['ShareSalon'], "Sketchbook1": harlowe.State.variables['Sketchbook1'], "ShareSketchbook": harlowe.State.variables['ShareSketchbook'], "LouisaLetter": harlowe.State.variables['LouisaLetter'], "ShareLouisa": harlowe.State.variables['ShareLouisa'], "CanvasReceipt": harlowe.State.variables['CanvasReceipt'], "ShareReceipt": harlowe.State.variables['ShareReceipt'], "BaggageTag": harlowe.State.variables['BaggageTag'], "ShareTag": harlowe.State.variables['ShareTag'], "StudioPhotos": harlowe.State.variables['StudioPhotos'], "SharePhotos": harlowe.State.variables['SharePhotos'] }); $.ajax({ url:"https://script.google.com/macros/s/AKfycbxWydHBGOW2g4a66DRI3MOuBL6COFxC-_h9F01VEje-rOABkatCyA5lW1Xzys6K-t_g/exec", method:"POST", dataType: "json", data: sendData }).done(function() {}); </script>

<img src="images\box0\painting2.png" alt="George Marshall's painting 'Early to Rise' (1894), for which Katherine Randolph modeled. She is depicted nude, in the process of getting out of a bed."> George Marshall's painting 'Early to Rise' (1894), for which Katherine Randolph modeled. She is depicted nude, in the process of getting out of a bed. --- (if: $FindingAid is true)[[[Go back to the finding-aid menu|finding aid]]](else:)[[[Get set up for research|intro to research setup]]] [[Ask Priya about the collection|background on collection]] [[Look at the painting again|painting]] (if: $PierreLetter is true)[[[Finish your research|you're finished]]] ---

Please enter your first name. [(input-box:2bind $PlayerName,"XXX=",1,"")] [[Begin story|welcome]]