William Matthew Prior

American, 1806 - 1873

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American painter (1806-1873)

Explore Selected Works

William Matthew Prior, The Burnish Sisters, 1854, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1980.62.18

The Burnish Sisters

William Matthew Prior · 1854 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1980.62.18

William Matthew Prior, Master Cleeves, 1850, aqueous medium on cardboard, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.33

Master Cleeves

William Matthew Prior · 1850 · aqueous medium on cardboard ·  Accession ID  1953.5.33

A young, round-cheeked, pale-skinned child wears a red dress and sits in front of a landscape in this vertical portrait painting. Her dark blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled to the sides to make ear-length ringlets that frame her square face. She has faint, arched brows, wide-set, large blue eyes, a tiny nose, and a bow-shaped mouth over a bulb-like chin. The garnet-red dress is patterned with rows of tiny black dots. The bodice has a straight neckline and slate-blue bows over short sleeves. The child’s pink stockings and black shoes tied with bows peek out from the long hem of the skirt, where one foot kicks up and the other points toes down as if swinging her feet back and forth. She gently holds a toy rabbit, which has gray fur, pink eyes, and a pink collar, with one hand in her lap. The other hand cups lightly against her chest. A burgundy-red curtain hangs behind her, filling the top third of the background. A tan-colored column, wider than the girl’s shoulders, is immediately behind the curtain, and trees and shrubs reach into the distance under a pink-streaked blue sky.
William Matthew Prior, Little Miss Fairfield, 1850, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1971.83.9

Little Miss Fairfield

William Matthew Prior · 1850 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1971.83.9

William Matthew Prior, Child with Straw Hat, c. 1846/1873, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1978.80.9

Child with Straw Hat

William Matthew Prior · c. 1846/1873 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1978.80.9

William Matthew Prior, Baby in Blue, c. 1845, oil on paper on wood, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.58

Baby in Blue

William Matthew Prior · c. 1845 · oil on paper on wood ·  Accession ID  1953.5.58

William Matthew Prior, Boy with Toy Horse and Wagon, c. 1845, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1953.5.67

Boy with Toy Horse and Wagon

William Matthew Prior · c. 1845 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1953.5.67

Bibliography

1948

  • Little, Nina Fletcher. "William M. Prior, Traveling Artist, and his In-Laws, the Painting Hamblens." Antiques 53 (January 1948): 44-48.

1950

  • Lipman and Winchester 1950, 80-89.

1979

  • Johnston, Patricia. "William Matthew Prior, Itinerant Portrait Painter." Early American Life (June 1979): 20-23, 66.

1981

  • Rumford 1981, 176-182.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 296-297.