Sarah Blake Sturgis

Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which gave the work to the National Gallery of Art in 1947.

The portrait of Sarah Blake Sturgis was painted in 1835 by Francis Alexander. It descended through the sitter's family: first to her brother Samuel Parkman Sturgis in Canton, China, then to another brother, James Sturgis, in Boston, and later to James's son, Charles Wilkins Sturgis. After leaving family hands it was owned by Rose M. de Forest of New York.

Thomas B. Clarke acquired it in October 1921, and it was sold from his estate in January 1936 through M. Knoedler & Co. to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which gave the work to the National Gallery of Art in 1947. The portrait was included in an exhibition of the Clarke collection in 1928.

The 1835 portrait of Sarah Blake Sturgis by Francis Alexander exemplifies American portraiture of the period, depicting a member of a prominent Boston mercantile family. Alexander, an American portraitist, is documented as a leading practitioner of elite likenesses in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Executed in oil on canvas, the work was recorded in the 1928 Clarke exhibition catalogue and later entered the National Gallery of Art through the Andrew W. Mellon collection, having descended through the Sturgis family before passing to Thomas B. Clarke and then the Mellon Trust.

This oil on canvas painting, titled Sarah Blake Sturgis, was created by the artist Francis Alexander in 1835. The portrait depicts Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw, capturing her likeness in a formal setting. The work serves as a representative example of portraiture from the period, utilizing traditional techniques to render its subject.

The painting features Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw seated, directly engaging the viewer with her gaze. Dressed in a formal gown and hat, her posture and attire convey a sense of refinement. As a woman of notable social standing, the portrait reflects her cultivated demeanor and the elegance expected of individuals in her position during the mid-19th century.