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This playful portrait clearly illustrates his colorful and linear style. At least sixteen portraits with stylistic similarities have been attributed to Miller, five of which are in the collection of Fenimore Art Museum. Recent research by Stacy Hollander has suggested that “Picking Flowers” may be a posthumous portrait, owing to the presence of symbols specifically associated with death, such as the morning glory in the girl’s basket, the plucking of the rose blossom, the daisy under her foot, and the sunset, among others.
Exhibition History“The Cat in American Folk Art,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, January 12, 1976 – March 26, 1976; December 2, 1975 – March 15, 1976.
“Uncommon Quilts: Treasures of the New York State Historical Association,” Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, June 4, 1998 – July 19, 1998; Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY, August 29, 1997; Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, April 1, 1996 – December 31, 1996.
“Folk Art from the Collection of the New York State Historical Association,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, January 11, 2000 – February 18, 2000.
“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, Cooperstown, NY,” 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.
“Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, October 5, 2016 – February 26, 2017.
BibliographyHolly Pyne Connor; Sarah Burns; Barbara Dayer Gallati; Lauren Lessing, Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth Century America (exh. cat. Portland, OR: Pomegranate, 2012), np.
Stacy C. Hollander and Gary Laderman, Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America (exh. cat. New York, NY: American Folk Art Museum, 2016), np.
Jennifer A. Yunginger, Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children (exh. cat. Massachusetts: Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, 1995), np.
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.112-115, illus. as no. 65 on p. 113.
Anita Schorsch, "Images of Childhood: An Illustrated Social History" (New York, 1979), illus. as Plate XII on p. 106.
Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America: Mary Black and Jean Lipman, "American Folk Painting" (New York, 1966), illus. as fig. 116 on p. 131.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C Jones, "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" [exhibition catalog], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960: 20, numbers 32 and 33, illustrations 32 and 33.
Attributed to
Samuel Miller
(1807 - 1853)
Picking Flowers
Datec. 1845
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 54 × 48 in. (137.2 × 121.9 cm)
Object numberN0255.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextBorn in Boston in about 1807, Samuel Miller was a Charlestown, Massachusetts, resident in 1852, and died in Boston in 1853.This playful portrait clearly illustrates his colorful and linear style. At least sixteen portraits with stylistic similarities have been attributed to Miller, five of which are in the collection of Fenimore Art Museum. Recent research by Stacy Hollander has suggested that “Picking Flowers” may be a posthumous portrait, owing to the presence of symbols specifically associated with death, such as the morning glory in the girl’s basket, the plucking of the rose blossom, the daisy under her foot, and the sunset, among others.
Exhibition History“The Cat in American Folk Art,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, January 12, 1976 – March 26, 1976; December 2, 1975 – March 15, 1976.
“Uncommon Quilts: Treasures of the New York State Historical Association,” Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, June 4, 1998 – July 19, 1998; Johnson Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY, August 29, 1997; Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, April 1, 1996 – December 31, 1996.
“Folk Art from the Collection of the New York State Historical Association,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, January 11, 2000 – February 18, 2000.
“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, Cooperstown, NY,” 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.
“Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY, October 5, 2016 – February 26, 2017.
BibliographyHolly Pyne Connor; Sarah Burns; Barbara Dayer Gallati; Lauren Lessing, Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth Century America (exh. cat. Portland, OR: Pomegranate, 2012), np.
Stacy C. Hollander and Gary Laderman, Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America (exh. cat. New York, NY: American Folk Art Museum, 2016), np.
Jennifer A. Yunginger, Is She or Isn’t He? Identifying Gender in Folk Portraits of Children (exh. cat. Massachusetts: Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, 1995), np.
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.112-115, illus. as no. 65 on p. 113.
Anita Schorsch, "Images of Childhood: An Illustrated Social History" (New York, 1979), illus. as Plate XII on p. 106.
Securing the Shadow: Posthumous Portraiture in America: Mary Black and Jean Lipman, "American Folk Painting" (New York, 1966), illus. as fig. 116 on p. 131.
Agnes Halsey and Louis C Jones, "New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic" [exhibition catalog], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960: 20, numbers 32 and 33, illustrations 32 and 33.
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