Mary Ellis Bell (Mrs. Isaac Bell)

c. 1827

John Vanderlyn

Painter, American, 1775 - 1852

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Evangeline Bell Bruce

  • Dimensions

    overall: 76.2 x 61 cm (30 x 24 in.)
    framed: 95.6 x 81 x 7 cm (37 5/8 x 31 7/8 x 2 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1997.19.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

By descent in the family of the sitter, Mary Ellis Bell [Mrs. Isaac Bell, 1791-1871], to Evangeline Bell Bruce [Mrs. David K.E. Bruce, 1918-1996], Washington, D.C.;[1] bequest 1997 to NGA.
[1] "J. Bell, Esq." lent the painting to an 1827 exhibition. His relationship to the sitter has not yet been determined. Harold Bell, identified by William Oedel as the sitter's great-grandson (letter of 2 January 1997, in NGA curatorial files), lent the painting to a 1932 exhibition. Oedel documents the donor's ownership in 1953.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1827

  • 13th Exhibition, American Academy of the Fine Arts, New York, 1827, no. 5, as Portrait of a Lady.

1932

  • Inaugural Exhibition, Museum of the City of New York, 1932, no cat.

Bibliography

1968

  • Lee, Cuthbert. Portrait Register. Asheville, North Carolina, 1968: 65.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 212-214, color repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20185574

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