Artwork
Sisters in Blue
Sisters in Blue is an oil painting by the Realist artist Sturtevant J. Hamblin. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
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About this work
Technique & Style
Its classification as a painting and its use of oil paint on a canvas support place it firmly within the traditional easel-painting tradition of the period.
Sisters in Blue is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium consistent with mid-nineteenth-century American portrait practice. The work measures 68.3 cm in height by 56 cm in width, a modest upright format suited to a paired or sibling portrait composition. Its classification as a painting and its use of oil paint on a canvas support place it firmly within the traditional easel-painting tradition of the period.
Stylistically, the piece reflects the conventions of 1840s American portraiture, employing the layered handling and tonal modeling characteristic of oil on canvas at that date. The restrained palette implied by the title aligns with the subdued, polished finish typical of small-scale likenesses from this era.
History & Provenance
Sturtevant J. Hamblin executed Sisters in Blue in 1840. The work's early history places it in New York before entering the collection of Charles D. Childs in Boston. It subsequently passed to the Old Print Shop in New York, which sold the painting in 1950 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. The Garbisches later donated the piece to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1978.
Sisters in Blue is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work bears the accession number 1978.143.1. It entered the collection through a gift from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch in 1978. The painting was previously owned by Charles D. Childs of Boston and the Old Print Shop in New York, from whom it was acquired in 1950. It was exhibited in the National Gallery of Art's West Building, Gallery of American Paintings, in 1980.
Overview
Sisters in Blue is an oil on canvas painted around 1840 by American artist Sturtevant J. Hamblin. The work presents a quiet domestic scene featuring two adolescent girls standing side by side, each dressed in identical blue gowns trimmed in white. The composition is balanced and intimate, inviting viewers to notice the subtle details that define the figures and their surroundings.
Subject & Meaning
The two sisters are depicted holding symbolic objects: the left-hand figure clutches a handful of cherries, while the right-hand figure carries a small red book. The cherries may allude to youthful vitality or the fleeting nature of innocence, whereas the book suggests education or literary pursuits. Together, the pair convey a narrative of sisterly connection and the emerging roles of young women in the early nineteenth century.
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