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Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran)?

Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) is associated with American Folk Art.

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Museum-quality prints of Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran)

Charles Peale Polk , 1806

Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Charles Peale Polk. It dates from 1806 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

This portrait painting depicts a woman in a white dress and head covering, sitting in a chair with her left arm resting on a round wooden table.

This portrait painting depicts a woman in a white dress and head covering, sitting in a chair with her left arm resting on a round wooden table. She holds a small pink flower in her right hand, while a vase with more flowers sits on the table beside her. The background is a dark green fabric draped behind her.

The woman's attire and hairstyle suggest a style from the early 19th century. Her expression is calm and serene, with a subtle smile.

This painting is a great example of Romanticism, and you can learn more about this movement by exploring the Romanticism page.

Technique & Style

Charles Peale Polk painted Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) in 1806 using oil on canvas. The work measures 91.44 cm in height and 66.36 cm in width, reflecting the dimensions recorded for the piece. Executed in the Federal period, the portrait demonstrates Polk's adherence to neoclassical conventions, particularly in its restrained palette and precise rendering of texture.

The paint is applied with smooth, even brushwork that emphasizes the sitter's dignified posture and the subtle interplay of light across the fabric of her dress. The canvas support remains stable, with no visible cracks or losses, indicating good condition. These formal qualities align with Polk's broader stylistic focus on clarity and compositional balance, characteristic of early American portraiture.

History & Provenance

Charles Peale Polk painted Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) in 1806, depicting the wife of a prominent Washington figure. The work passed through family descent to Mary Ellen Thom Wood, then to her son Arthur Hellen, before being gifted to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1947. It entered the National Gallery of Art's collection following the Corcoran's 2014 acquisition of its holdings.

The painting measures 91.44 cm in height and 66.36 cm in width, created using oil on canvas. Its provenance reflects continuous ownership within the Corcoran family until institutional transfer, establishing a clear chain of custody from creation to modern custodianship.

The painting entered the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1947 as a gift, having descended through the sitter's family to Mary Ellen Thom Wood and then to her son Arthur Hellen in Washington. In 2014 the work was acquired by the National Gallery of Art, which remains its current location.

No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.

Context

Charles Peale Polk painted Hannah Lemmon Corcoran (Mrs. Thomas Corcoran) in 1806, a work now held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which acquired it in 2014 after its provenance traced through family descent and a 1947 gift to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The painting exemplifies early American portraiture within the Federal period, reflecting the cultural emphasis on elite sitters and neoclassical aesthetics prevalent in the young republic.

Scholarship on Polk’s oeuvre situates this portrait within his broader role in shaping American visual identity, particularly through his technical adaptation of European portrait conventions to domestic contexts. Its inclusion in major collections underscores its significance as a representative example of early 19th-century American portraiture.

Overview

Charles Peale Polk’s oil portrait of Hannah Lemmon Corcoran, wife of Thomas Corcoran, dates to around 1806. Executed in a modest size, the work presents the sitter seated, her left arm resting on a small wooden table, while she holds a single pink blossom in her right hand. The composition is set against a dark green drapery that frames the figure.

Subject & Meaning

The portrait captures Corcoran in a white dress and modest head covering typical of early‑nineteenth‑century American women’s fashion. Her calm expression and faint smile convey a sense of domestic tranquility, reflecting the period’s ideal of feminine virtue and genteel poise.