The Bridge at Vernon 

Rose O'Neill painted "The Bridge at Vernon" with oil on canvas in an unknown year. O'Neill, although best known for creating the Kewpie characters, was also a painter, illustrator, and political activist. She came from a poor background and experienced firsthand the societal constraints placed on women at the turn of the century. She had a lifelong commitment to women's rights. Her engagement to artist Gray Latham while still a teenager, was an attempt to gain financial independence. The bridge at Vernon is rendered in soft, impressionistic strokes, bathing the scene in muted colors. The subject may appear conventional, but, for O'Neill, living in Paris in the early 1900's, it may also have been a statement of self-determination. A choice of subject matter rooted in a time and place where she could be free, and independent. In O'Neill's work, the personal and the political often intertwine, offering viewers a glimpse into the lived experience and emotional landscape of a woman navigating a rapidly changing world.