Portrait of a Woman

c. 1845

Thomas Skynner

Associated Names
Thomas Skynner

Painter, American, active 1840/1852

The image depicts a portrait of a person from the waist up. The person is seated upright, facing slightly to the left with sharp facial features, pronounced eyebrows, blue eyes, and a serious expression. They wear a white headdress with ribbon-like extensions, a dark high-collared garment, and hold a red book in their left hand while their right hand rests on a white cloth. In the background is a framed picture showing a green tree against a muted landscape on a brown wall. The overall color scheme is warm and earthy.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Connecticut. (Thomas D. Williams, Litchfield, Connecticut), by whom sold in 1951 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1967.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

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. 69, color repro., as by Unknown. First venue: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.

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. 65. 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.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 100, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 222, repro.

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: 355, 358, repro. 357.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 337, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20187555

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