Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Woman with a Lute, 1886, oil on wood, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Thou art my lute, by thee I sing,
My heart is attuned to thee.
Thou settlest all my words a wing,
And meltest me to melody.
Paul Laurence Dunbar*
Tonalist painter Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) was a favorite artist of Charles Lang Freer whose museum of the same name is part of the Smithsonian Institution, known for both its American and Asian collection. African-American author Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), lived a short but artistically productive life, creating his first verses when still a child.
*Thou Art My Lute
