Catalogue entry

Hands
Catalogue no. 762
c.1921
Provincetown, MA
Pencil on paper
8 x 7 in. (20.3 x 17.8 cm)
Signed, dated, numbered [twice] lower left:
"E W Dickinson / ca. 1921 / 37 / W10"
Inscribed bottom left: "Ben Atkins"
Mr. & Mrs. Donald R. Haug
Photo: Biff Henrich
Notes
Drawn in Provincetown, MA. This drawing has been widely considered, even by ED, as a study for "The Cello Player" and therefore of John Cordes' hands. The actual study for "The Cello player" was long lost, and found only in 1993, hence the confusion. Even ED had his doubts and thought it might alternatively be a study for "An Anniversary" but said "though the hands in the painting are not in the position of the hands in the drawing. I suppose them to be `Ben Pot's' hands but they look much too young to me to be his." It is unknown whose hands they are and all inscriptions were made late in ED's life.
Provenance
Mr. & Mrs. Donald R. Haug
Exhibition History
1977–78 Burchfield Center, Buffalo
State University College at Buffalo, Charles Burchfield Center, Buffalo, New York, Tribute Exhibition: Edwin Dickinson, September 18, 1977–November 6, 1978, as "John Cordes' Hands" 1921, Study for `The Cello Player'". Traveled to: Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York, January 14–February 19, 1978; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, November 16–December 23, 1978.
Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Dickinson Baldwin, Helen. "Hands, c.1921 (Catalogue no. 762)." In The Edwin Dickinson Catalogue Raisonné. www.edwindickinson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=762 (accessed on July 17, 2026).