Janet Halleck Drake

Henry Inman

1825 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Janet Halleck Drake was the daughter of the New York poet Joseph Rodman Drake and named for her father’s friend, the poet Fitz-Greene Halleck. She was about seven years old when she sat for Inman, who placed her in a fanciful woodland setting. Miss Drake’s top hat is somewhat emblematic of the artist, who was known for wearing one about town. Inman exhibited the portrait in New York in 1825 and a reviewer found it “beautiful.”

Artist

Henry Inman

Date

1825

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrylser Garbisch, by exchange, 1996