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Label Text In the Spring depicts the millinery department at Wanamakers, a former department store in downtown Philadelphia. Sparhawk-Jones composed the picture from a vivid palette and an application of loose brushstrokes. This creates the sense of a moment that’s quickly passing by, and evokes the experience of shopping. Department stores were a relatively new phenomenon when the artist executed this painting. Offering a wide selection of readymade goods in different sections, the stores were symbolic of industrialization and growing consumerism. But they also helped lay the groundwork for the rights of middle-class women: while in-store they were allowed to walk unchaperoned. This was unheard of during a time when it was largely illegal for women to enter public spaces without a male escort. October, 2020
Exhibition History"Commitment, Community and Controversy: The Des Moines Art Center Collections," Des Moines Art Center, Jan. 24 - May 10, 1998

"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," organized by the Waterloo Municipal Galleries, sponsored by the National Bank of Waterloo, Oct. 25 - Nov. 20, 1983; (Circulated to: Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, Jan. 15 - Feb. 26, 1984; Muscatine Art Center, April 1 - May 13, 1984; Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, May 27 - July 1, 1984; Sioux City Art Center, July 15 - Aug. 26, 1984)

"Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings," Worcester Art Museum, June 7 - Sept. 15, 1912, cat. 48

"107th Annual Exhibition," Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Feb. 4 - March 24, 1912, cat. 111
Published ReferencesRichard F. Snow, ed., "The Winter Art Show," AMERICAN HERITAGE MAGAZINE, Vol.44, No.1, Feb./Mar. 1993, color ill. p.100

DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.201 & 202, b/w ill. pl.132, p.201

"Selected Works from the Des Moines Art Center's Permanent Collection," Waterloo Municipal Galleries, 1983, exh. cat. no.35, color ill.
DimensionsOverall: 35 1/4 × 40 in. (89.5 × 101.6 cm)
Accession Number 1941.2
Classificationspainting
SignedElizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (l,l oil paint)
In the Spring
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Harry Donald Jones
1941
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
John Paul Jones
ca. 1950
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Allen Jones
1964
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
John Paul Jones
ca. 1950
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Sir Edward Burne-Jones
1890
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
John Paul Jones
1951
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Elizabeth Murray
1989
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kara Elizabeth Walker
1996
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
David Pease
1967
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Walter Wellington Quirt
1951