Inscription
on reverse of original canvas, now concealed by lining (photograph in NGA curatorial file): AEt 43 / 1845
Provenance
The sitter's husband, Thomas Whittemore [1800-1861]; probably the sitter [d. 1882]; by descent to her grandson, Thomas Whittemore [1871-1950];[1] gift 1950 to NGA.
Technical Summary
The finely woven, plain-weave support has been lined. Cusping along all four cut edges suggests that the image has not been reduced. The white ground is thick and smooth, and subsequent paint was applied rapidly and thickly, except in the dark dress and shadowed areas, where the paint is thinner. X-radiography indicates several changes: in the profile of the bonnet, in the right sleeve, and in the upper portion of the dress where the bonnet's ties have been covered by dark paint. In 1952 the painting was relined, discolored varnish was removed, and the painting was restored. There is some minor inpainting around the sitter's left eye, on her right shoulder, on her neck, and along the bottom edge. A pervasive system of thin, branched cracks runs through the paint film. The glossy varnish has become discolored.
Bibliography
- 1968
- Warner, Deborah Jean. Alvan Clark & Sons, Artists in Optics. Washington, 1968: 119.
- 1970
- American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 42, repro.
- 1980
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 131, repro.
- 1992
- American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 143, repro.
- 1996
- Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 74-75, repro. 73
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