Here’s another brief encounter by two ladies passing through the hands of our paintings conservator. On the left is a recent gift to the American art collection, Sarah (Sally) Perkins by John Brewster, painted around 1800-1809. She is having some minor cosmetic work done before appearing in our upcoming folk art exhibition, A Shared Legacy: Folk Art in America, opening June 10^th. On the right is a painting by a French artist, Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun, entitled Portrait of a Young Woman Playing a Lyre, from the 1780s. She is being examined in preparation for a loan to another museum’s exhibition. These portraits were painted only about 20 years apart, but as you can see, the subjects lived in very different worlds, early 19^th America and late 18^th century France.    

Image Credits:

(L) John Brewster Jr. (American, b. 1766, d. 1854), Sarah "Sally" Perkins (Mrs. James Perkins, Jr.), circa 1800-1809, oil on canvas, 30 7/16 x 25 1/8 in. (77.3 x 63.8 cm.), Bequest of Joycelyn Bauer Norris in gratitude to the Cincinnati Art Museum, 2016.258. 

(R) Marie Vigee-Lebrun (French, b. 1755 - d. 1842), Portrait of a Young Woman Playing a Lyre, late 1780’s, oil on canvas, 35 x 28 1/2 in. (88.9 x 72.4 cm), Gift of Emile L. Heine in memory of Mr. and Mrs. John Hauck, 1940.981.