Portrait of a Woman (Judith Colman Bulfinch?)
John Smibert (Scottish, 1688–1751)
c. 1734
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Framed: 94 x 81 x 6 cm (37 x 31 7/8 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 75.6 x 62.2 cm (29 3/4 x 24 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- America
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Adult profiles and older: its museum's description or title mentions violence, death or gore. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The appearance of a professionally trained British painter in the American colonies in 1729 marks a curcial point in the history of American art. Smibert not only imported the skills necessary to convey the impression of substantial, rounded forms in a picture, but his commercial success also inspired others to contemplate careers as painters. Born in Edinburgh and schooled in London and Italy, Smibert attracted numerous clients upon his arrival in Boston. The low bodice, long neck, and sinuous curl of hair in this portrait follow British conventions for depicting women. Research continues as to the identity of the sitter, long thought to be Mrs. Thomas Bulfinch (born Judith Colman, 1707-1765), since that name does not appear in Smibert's recently discovered records.
