Portrait of a Young Woman

Mather Brown

1801 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Mather Brown was born in Boston, son of a clockmaker and descendent of several famous New England divines, including Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. After working as an itinerant portraitist in New England, Brown went to London in 1780 to study with Benjamin West. He became a fashionable portraitist in various provincial English cities. The stylishly dressed young girl looks up from her music at the piano, which bears the 1797 label of the London firm of Kirkman.

Artist

Mather Brown

Date

1801

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Caroline Newhouse, 1965