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Exhibition History“Ammi Phillips Portrait Painter,” Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY, December 9, 1968 – January 7, 1969; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, October 14, 1968 – December 2, 1968.
“Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American Portraiture,” Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL, October 8, 1994 – December 31, 1994; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 9, 1994 – September 4, 1994; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, February 5, 1994 – April 17, 1994.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum,” The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 11, 2004 – April 16, 2004.
“Little Women, Little Men: Folk Portraits of Children from Fenimore Art Museum,” Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA, September 22, 2006 – February 4, 2007; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, July 2, 2005 – October 16, 2005; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, October 29, 2005 – December 31, 2005.
“Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth Century America,” Newark Museum, Newark, NY, December 9, 2012 – July 1, 2013; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN, February 16, 2013 – May 12, 2013; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, May 28, 2013 – September 30, 2013.
“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp.127-129, ill. no.74 on p. 128.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C. Jones, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic, (NYSHA, 1960), pp. 14-15, ill. no. 11.
Stacy C. Hollander, Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American portraiture (exh. cat. New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1994).
Attributed to
Ammi Phillips
(1788 - 1865)
Mother and Child in Gray Dresses
Datec. 1825
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 33 3/8 × 27 3/8 in. (84.8 × 69.5 cm)
Object numberN0267.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThe artistic flavor of Phillips' Realistic Period is no better represented than in this portrait of a mother and child. He cleverly expressed his appreciation for juxtapositions of light and dark color by painting the sitters in white-gray dresses that contrast sharply with the dark gray background. A single light source from the left of the canvas casts the sitters into partial shadow. The left side of the woman's face, her neckline and the far side of her sleeves as well as the baby's left side are all painted in darker tones of color, which lend depth and volume to the composition. The artist conveyed his delight with fabrics as he painted the woman's dress with rays of light falling on her sleeves and drenched her fichu in more light, making the material appear shimmering and transparent. Other characteristic features include the three-quarter length pose that seems to fill the canvas, the subjects' tubular arms, and the distinctive red paint used to outline their fingers and define their knuckles. Of particular note, the woman's awkwardly positioned and elongated arms, which encircle the child, betray Phillips' as yet undeveloped painting technique.Exhibition History“Ammi Phillips Portrait Painter,” Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY, December 9, 1968 – January 7, 1969; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, October 14, 1968 – December 2, 1968.
“Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American Portraiture,” Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL, October 8, 1994 – December 31, 1994; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 9, 1994 – September 4, 1994; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, February 5, 1994 – April 17, 1994.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum,” The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 11, 2004 – April 16, 2004.
“Little Women, Little Men: Folk Portraits of Children from Fenimore Art Museum,” Clark Institute, Williamstown, MA, September 22, 2006 – February 4, 2007; Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, July 2, 2005 – October 16, 2005; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, October 29, 2005 – December 31, 2005.
“Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth Century America,” Newark Museum, Newark, NY, December 9, 2012 – July 1, 2013; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN, February 16, 2013 – May 12, 2013; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, May 28, 2013 – September 30, 2013.
“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp.127-129, ill. no.74 on p. 128.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C. Jones, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic, (NYSHA, 1960), pp. 14-15, ill. no. 11.
Stacy C. Hollander, Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American portraiture (exh. cat. New York: Museum of American Folk Art, 1994).
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