The Burnish Sisters

1854

William Matthew Prior

Artist, American, 1806 - 1873

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from New York State.[1] (A. T. Sullivan, city unknown). (Downtown Gallery, New York, 1931-1945), by whom sold in 1945 (F. Valentine Dudensing as agent) to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; by bequest to NGA, 1980.
[1] The original Garbisch accession sheet states that the painting was found in New York State, but a second sheet, provided when it was given to the National Gallery, records its origin as Massachusetts.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • American Ancestors, The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1931, not included in cat.

1932

  • Centennial Exhibition, American Folk Art, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy-Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 1932, no. 38.

  • Detroit Society of the Arts, 1932, no cat. known.

  • Crillon Galleries, Philadelphia, 1932, no cat. known.

1937

  • Children in American Folk Art, 1725-1865, The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1937, no. 69.

1940

  • A Souvenir of Romanticism in America; or An Elegant Exposition of Taste and Fashion from 1812 to 1865, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1940, unnumbered cat.

  • Survey of American Painting, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1940, no. 31.

1941

  • Milestones of American Art, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York, 1941, no cat.

1943

  • American Primitive Painting of Four Centuries, The Arts Club of Chicago, 1943, no. 35.

1951

  • American Primitive Painting 1759-1950, Milwaukee Art Institute, 1951, no. 12.

1954

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part I, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1954, no. 104.

1955

  • American Primitive Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955.

1961

  • 101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Federation of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, no. 87, color repro. First venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.

1967

  • Fifty Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Society of The Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, 1967, no cat.

1968

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: 111 Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., 1968-1970, no. 91, repro. First venue: Grand Palais, Paris.

1970

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, organized by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., and Mainichi News, Nihobashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1970, no cat.

  • The New World: 1620-1970, Chrysler Art Museum, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1970, no. 19.

1985

  • American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Exh. cat. Traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 51, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

1988

  • La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca'Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 51, repro.

1993

  • A Child's Place, The Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1993, no cat.

Bibliography

1984

  • Journal of the American Medical Association 251, no. 15 (April 1984): 1965, color cover.

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: 306-308, color repro. 307.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 267, repro.

Inscriptions

on reverse (no longer visible, photograph in object file [1980.62.18] in NGA curatorial records); at right: Fanny P. Burnish / Age 6 / Mar 25 / By W. M. Prior 1854; at left: Levenia R. Burnish / age 3 next July 21st 1854 / W. M. Prior 1854 / March 26th.

Wikidata ID

Q20188050

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