Mary McIntosh Williams Sargent
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
S/NPG.74.39.16.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1802, French-born artist Charles Balth Julien Févret de-Mémin captured the likeness of Mary McIntosh Williams in this elegant profile print, now housed in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's National Portrait Gallery. Saint-Mémin (1770–1852), who fled the French Revolution and settled in America, became renowned for his precise, miniature portraits that documented the early republic's elite. This work exemplifies his signature style: intimate, physiognomically accurate profiles that blended European sophistication with emerging American identity. Crafted as a print, likely an engraving d...