Alsa Slade

The painting titled Alsa Slade was created in 1816 by Ammi Phillips as an oil on canvas portrait of the sitter Alsa Slade, depicting her with embroidery. It originated in New York State, where it may have been displayed in the Red, White, and Blue House built by Benjamin Slade in Waterford. The work was later discovered in Lansingburgh (now part of Troy) by Frederick Fuessenich, sold in 1952 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, and gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1953, where it has remained in the museum's collection.

Alsa Slade is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting entered the NGA in 1953 as a gift from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who had acquired it in 1952 from Frederick Fuessenich of Litchfield, Connecticut. Fuessenich reportedly found the work in Lansingburgh, now part of Troy, New York. Earlier provenance situates the portrait in New York State, with a possible prior location in the Red, White, and Blue House built by Benjamin Slade, son of Joseph and Alsa Slade, in Waterford, New York, as noted in correspondence from a Slade descendant held in NGA curatorial files.

Ammi Phillips's 1816 oil on canvas painting, titled Alsa Slade, is a portrait that captures a woman engaged in the act of embroidery. This work exemplifies the artist's characteristic approach to depicting individuals, often within their domestic settings, through a focused and direct portrayal.