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Portrait of a Woman

Unknown

1864

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Portrait

Dominant colour

Portrait of a Woman is a 1864 by Unknown, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1864 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a small, painted portrait of a woman in a dark dress, her face lit softly against a plain background. The painting fits in your palm, framed in a fancy black case with gold details. This isn’t a famous artist’s work—it’s a keepsake. In the 1860s, many Americans paid for portraits like this, not as fine art, but as personal mementos. The case was meant to sit on a shelf or be carried close, like a wallet photo today. To see more everyday portraits from this time, look up the subject america.

The story of this work

Overview

It seemed a miracle that anyone could afford to have an accurate record of their own likeness or those of their loved ones. This portrait is an excellent example of the hundreds of thousands of portraits produced by commercial photographers in mid-nineteenth-century America. Small scale yet housed in an elaborately decorated thermoplastic case, it was intended to be carried by its owner or displayed on parlor tables or knickknack shelves.