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Portrait of a Young Woman
Edward Harrison May (born Croydon, England 1824-died Paris, France 1887)
1862
- Medium
- oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard
- Classification
- Paintings
- Dimensions
- 24 x 16 3/4 in. (60.9 x 42.4 cm.)
- Museum
- Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, Thomas W. Evans Collection
- Rights
- CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Smithsonian Institution
About this work
In this painting of an unknown young woman, Edward Harrison May used soft brushstrokes and muted colors to emphasize her dreamy expression. The girl’s tilted head, wide eyes, and slightly parted lips create an idealized image that is both classical and melancholy. Her dark hair and rich green dress emphasize the porcelain skin of her bare throat, reinforcing the nineteenth-century idea of women as fragile creatures.
