The New Bonnet

Francis William Edmonds

1858 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Following a year of study in Europe, Edmonds returned to the United States in 1841 and began to paint subjects drawn from contemporary American life. Inspired by seventeenth-century Dutch genre painting (scenes of everyday life), The New Bonnet exemplifies the artist’s gently moralizing approach, as he juxtaposes the daughter’s purchase of an extravagant hat with the plain attire of her disapproving parents. A major figure in New York City’s cultural scene, Edmonds was instrumental in founding the American Art-Union—an important venue for the exhibition, dissemination, and popularization of American genre painting.

Artist

Francis William Edmonds

Date

1858

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Erving Wolf Foundation Gift and Gift of Hanson K. Corning, by exchange, 1975