Robert C. Joy
Portrait of Miss Ima Hogg (1882–1975)

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Artist Robert C. Joy (American, 1910–1993)American, 1910–1993

DepictedDepiction of Miss Ima Hogg(1882–1975)1882–1975

CultureAmerican

Titles

Portrait of Miss Ima Hogg (1882–1975)

Datec. 1971

PlaceHouston, Texas, United States

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions37 × 29 in. (94 × 73.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of John and Sara Lindsey

Object numberB.2017.4

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PAINTING

DescriptionBorn in Erie, Pennsylvania, Robert C. Joy attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1927–28. In 1932, he moved to Houston. There, James H. Chillman, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gave him his first one-man exhibition, and Joy went on to teach art at the museum’s art school (now the Glassell School of Art). In the 1940s, he began painting portraits; during the next 40 years he completed over 350 works of Texas political, business, and social leaders. This painting of Miss Ima Hogg is almost certainly a preliminary version of another portrait in the Bayou Bend Collection (B.71.132), which has long been one of a small number of iconic images of Bayou Bend’s founder.
ProvenanceThe artist, Houston; [Auction, Houston, Robert Joy, September 24, 2000, lot 16]; Sara H. and John H. Lindsey, Houston; by descent to Kimberly P. and David C. Lindsay, Houston; given to MFAH, 2017.
Exhibition HistoryBayou Bend Docent Organization, May Luncheon, The Junior League of Houston, May 20, 2019.

Texas History Galleries, Bullock Texas State History Museum, December, 2021–December, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Signed lower right center: Robert Joy

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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