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In this delightful likeness, Field lingered over costume details and decorative accessories with the attention he reserved for youthful sitters. Rendered in full-length, this subject fills the canvas as she holds out a pretty doll in her left hand and stands on a boldly patterned carpet painted in colors of gold, red, blue, and burnt sienna.
Exhibition History“Erastus Salisbury Field, 1805-1900,” Fenimore House Museum, Cooperstown, NY, January 20, 1963 – March 17, 1963; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Colonial Williamsburg, VA.
“Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children,” Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 13, 1995 – October 29, 1995.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“Folk Art Masters,” The Menello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, September 19, 2001 – January 6, 2002.
“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.
BibliographyAbby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, "Erastus Salisbury Field, 1805-1900: A Special Exhibition Devoted to His Life and Work." Williamsburg, VA: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, 1963. Checklist number 77.
Paul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp. 80-82, illus. as no. 44 on p.80.
Jones, Agnes Halsey and Louis C., "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" (exh. cat., Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p.30, no. 66, ill. 66.
Attributed to
Erastus Salisbury Field
(1805 - 1900)
Girl in Yellow Dress with Doll
Datec. 1838
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 41 3/4 × 23 7/8 in. (106 × 60.6 cm)
Object numberN0234.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextFor most of his 95 years, the artist Erastus Salisbury Field lived in and around western Massachusetts, venturing no farther than 200 miles from home to earn a living painting portraits. As a youth, Field first showed an interest in art when he began sketching likenesses of relatives. As a young man, Field traveled to New York City where he briefly studied with the artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872).In this delightful likeness, Field lingered over costume details and decorative accessories with the attention he reserved for youthful sitters. Rendered in full-length, this subject fills the canvas as she holds out a pretty doll in her left hand and stands on a boldly patterned carpet painted in colors of gold, red, blue, and burnt sienna.
Exhibition History“Erastus Salisbury Field, 1805-1900,” Fenimore House Museum, Cooperstown, NY, January 20, 1963 – March 17, 1963; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, Colonial Williamsburg, VA.
“Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children,” Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Sandwich, MA, May 13, 1995 – October 29, 1995.
“American Folk Art: Collection from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, January 25, 2001 – March 24, 2001.
“Folk Art Masters,” The Menello Museum of American Folk Art, Orlando, FL, September 19, 2001 – January 6, 2002.
“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.
BibliographyAbby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, "Erastus Salisbury Field, 1805-1900: A Special Exhibition Devoted to His Life and Work." Williamsburg, VA: Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, 1963. Checklist number 77.
Paul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA, 1987), pp. 80-82, illus. as no. 44 on p.80.
Jones, Agnes Halsey and Louis C., "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" (exh. cat., Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p.30, no. 66, ill. 66.
On View
On viewca. 1900
ca. 1900
