Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Miss Otis 2002 Emma Amos, American, born 1938. Published by Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia. Color offset lithograph with collaged fabric border Currently not on view 2009-61-2 Gift of the Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, in memory of Anne d'Harnoncourt, 2009 |
LabelThe subject of Amos’s print refers to the 1934 Cole Porter song “Miss Otis Regrets,” which recounts the story of a young woman who, after being seduced and then spurned, tracks down and shoots her former lover in a rage. Following her arrest, she is taken from jail by a mob and lynched. The narrator conveys the final, polite apology of the once proper Miss Otis to her friends: “Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today.” |
