Artwork
Memorial
Memorial is a watercolor painting. It dates from 1800 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work titled “Memorial” portrays a woman standing beside a tree, an iconography that links the figure to themes of remembrance and natural continuity.
The work titled “Memorial” portrays a woman standing beside a tree, an iconography that links the figure to themes of remembrance and natural continuity. As an anonymous watercolor on ivory created in 1800, it is classified within the portrait genre and is part of The American Wing collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The depiction of a solitary woman with a tree may evoke notions of commemoration and the intertwining of personal and environmental memory, reflecting the memorial’s symbolic focus on loss and endurance. The painting measures roughly 4.4 cm by 4.4 cm.
Technique & Style
Created in 1800, this anonymous work is executed in watercolor on an ivory support. The piece functions as a portrait, featuring a woman and a tree as its primary subjects. Physically, the artwork is diminutive, measuring 4.4 cm in both height and width.
Its small scale and the use of ivory as a ground are characteristic of miniature painting traditions of the period.
History & Provenance
Created around 1800 by an unknown artist, the watercolor on ivory work titled Memorial originated in the early 19th century. The piece depicts a woman and a tree. It is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified under The American Wing.
The work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified under The American Wing. According to Wikidata, its location is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No specific inventory or accession number is recorded in the available sources.
No exhibition history is documented for the work in the provided sources.
Context
The watercolor on ivory, dated 1800, portrays an unidentified woman beside a tree and is classified within The American Wing’s portrait genre. Held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the piece measures roughly 4.4 by 4.4 (unit unspecified) and exemplifies early American portraiture that merges folk sensibility with neoclassical compositional balance. Because the creator remains anonymous, scholarly discussion focuses on the work’s stylistic affinities and its role in illustrating the development of portraiture in the United States before professional artists established distinct identities.
Its inclusion in a major museum collection underscores contemporary appreciation of such anonymous works as vital records of early American visual culture.
Overview
The work titled Memorial is a miniature watercolor executed on an ivory substrate, measuring roughly three inches in height. It depicts a solitary woman in a dark dress beneath a leafless tree, clutching a white handkerchief, set against a muted gray backdrop that suggests early morning mist.
Artist & collection
