Portrait of a Girl

Name/Title

Portrait of a Girl

Description

Bust portrait of a girl in green dress before a dark background. She is holding a small bouquet of flowers. Placed in a dark frame. The painting is done in the folk style common to itinerant folk painters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. According to art historian Emily Esser, this portrait was likely painted by Ebenezer Eames Finch. The girl has previously been identified as Mrs. Abiel Wood or Eliza Rand Johnson. It is unlikely the girl is either Wood or Johnson. According to an article written by Mildred Burrage at the time of donation, the donor did not know the identity of the girl.

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Subject

A young girl in a green dress

Subject Place

City

Dresden

State/Province

Maine

Country

United States

Continent

North America

Made/Created

Artist

E.E. Finch

Date made

1825 - 1840

Time Period

Early to mid 19th century

Notes

This painting has erroneously been attributed to Henry Cheever Pratt. The subject has also been identified as Mrs. Abiel Wood. On a separate label the sitter is identified as Elizabeth Rand Johnson. Elizabeth (Eliza), daughter of John Rand of Charlestown, Massachusetts, married John Johnson, Jr. on December 14, 1804. Given the apparent age of the sitter this would preclude Henry Cheever Pratt's authorship. Instead, this portrait appears to be by an itinerant American painter and executed with a certain naivete, typical of a folk art limner. Likely painted by E.E. Finch, as his style is quite similar.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

None

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

49.5 cm

Width

39.5 cm

Color

Brown, Green

Condition

Overall Condition

Fair

Notes

Small tear to the right of the bouquet of flowers that the sitter holds.