Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (1828–1887)

About this artwork

This elegant oil-on-canvas portrait by French academic painter Alexandre Cabanel captures Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (1828–1887), a wealthy New York heiress and philanthropist, painted in 1876. Measuring an impressive 67½ × 42¾ inches, the work exemplifies the grandeur of 19th-century society portraiture, where artists like Cabanel—favored by European aristocracy and American elites—rendered subjects with polished realism and refined detail. Oil on canvas, a staple medium for such commissions, allowed for the luminous skin tones, intricate fabrics, and dramatic lighting that convey status and poise. Created during the Gilded Age, the portrait reflects transatlantic cultural exchange, as affluent Americans like Wolfe, from the Lorillard tobacco fortune, sought prestigious French artists to immortalize their likenesses. Cabanel's academic style, honed through Salon successes, emphasizes technical virtuosity over individualism, prioritizing idealized beauty and compositional harmony. Notably, Wolfe herself bequeathed this piece—and her vast collection—to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1887, forming the foundation of its European Paintings department and ensuring its legacy for visitors today. A window into Victorian-era opulence and patronage, it invites us to ponder the sitter's trailblazing generosity.