Name/Title
Mr. Robert Gilmor, JrEntry/Object ID
L.2011.001.6Description
Thomas Sully (English-born, 1783-1872)
Mrs. Robert Gilmor, Jr. (Sarah Reeve Ladson)
Probably Philadelphia, PA, or Baltimore, MD, 1823
Oil on canvas, H. 46 1/2 x W. 39 x D. 4 1/4 (framed) inches
Lent by Gibbes Museum of Art/Carolina Art Association, Charleston, SC, 1942.010.0003
Over the course of his life, Baltimore art collector Robert Gilmor, Jr. (1774-1848) amassed a stunning collection of ancient and contemporary art from America and abroad. It is no surprise, then, that he commissioned this portrait of his wife, Sarah Reeves Ladson, by one of America's leading portraitist of the early-nineteenth century, the English-born Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Sully earned great esteem as a portrait artist, and except for a short sojourn in London, where he became acquainted with William Beechey, Thomas Lawrence and Benjamin West, he spent most of his career traveling along the eastern seaboard of America painting portraits and history paintings.
From one of Charleston's most distinguished families, Sarah Reeves Ladson was a reported beauty and in this likeness Sully captured both the grace and refinement of his subject. Also known to be a lady of fashion, Mrs. Robert Gilmor, Jr. is shown in a colorful head turban, a style popular in America in the 1820s and 30s, and fur-lined jacket that offset her ivory gown. This portrait could have been painted in Sully's Philadelphia studio on Chestnut Street, where he was located from 1823 to 1824, or during one of his many trips to Baltimore.Collection
Gibbes Museum of Art C/O: Historic Charleston FouLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsIntake
Loan In
L.2011.001Lender
Angela Mack, CuratorDate Returned
Feb 1, 2011Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
January 12, 2011Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
December 7, 2012