Artwork
Mrs. John Lothrop
Mrs. John Lothrop is an oil painting by the Rococo painting artist John Durand. It dates from 1770 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. "Mrs.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
John Lothrop is portrayed as a seated sitter in a modest domestic setting, her attire and posture signaling the refined status of an early American elite woman.
Mrs. John Lothrop is portrayed as a seated sitter in a modest domestic setting, her attire and posture signaling the refined status of an early American elite woman. The canvas, executed in oil in 1770, follows the conventions of colonial portraiture that emphasized genteel identity and moral virtue through sober clothing and a calm expression. As a work in the National Gallery of Art, it entered the collection via a bequest from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, underscoring its significance as a representative example of 18th‑century American portraiture.
Technique & Style
Created in 1770, Mrs. John Lothrop is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work adheres to the formal conventions of the eighteenth-century portrait genre, depicting the sitter in a traditional manner. The physical dimensions of the canvas measure 90.9 cm in height and 70.8 cm in width.
As an oil-on-canvas composition from this period, the piece represents a standard handling of the medium for portraiture of the era.
History & Provenance
The work titled Mrs. John Lothrop was executed in 1770 by John Durand using oil on canvas, depicting a portrait of the subject.
It remained in New York before being acquired in 1955 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who later bequeathed the painting to the National Gallery of Art.
The canvas measures approximately 90.9 cm in height and 70.8 cm in width, and has been part of the National Gallery of Art’s collection in Washington, D.C. since 1980.
The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its provenance traces back to New York before it was purchased in 1955 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. The work entered the museum's holdings in 1980 through a bequest from the Garbisches.
No specific exhibition history or inventory accession numbers are provided in the available sources.
Overview
"Mrs. John Lothrop," an oil on canvas portrait, was created by John Durand around 1770. This painting presents a woman in formal attire, holding symbolic objects, against a subdued background. It exemplifies the portraiture conventions of its era, capturing the subject's refined appearance and suggesting her social standing through meticulously rendered costume and accessories, characteristic of Durand's work.
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Artist & collection
Artist
John Durand (active 1765–1782) was a colonial American portraitist. With John Mare, Abraham Delanoy, and Lawrence Kilburn, he was one of a number of portraitists living and working in New York City during the 1760s.…
