Mrs. Paul Smith Palmer and Her Twins
1835/1838
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 97.8 x 86.3 cm (38 1/2 x 34 in.) framed: 114.3 x 104.1 x 7.6 cm (45 x 41 x 3 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CAB
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Accession Number
1971.83.5
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
This charming oil on canvas portrait captures Mrs. Paul Smith Palmer alongside her infant twins, offering a tender glimpse into early American family life. Painted by Erastus Salisbury Field between 1835 and 1838, the work measures roughly 38½ by 34 inches and reflects the growing popularity of domestic portraiture during the antebellum period. Such paintings allowed middle-class families to preserve their likenesses and social bonds in an era before photography became widespread. Field, a self-taught artist active in New England, specialized in these intimate, full-length or group compositions that emphasize warmth and connection. The inclusion of the twins highlights themes of motherhood and lineage central to 19th-century American culture. Donated to the National Gallery of Art by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, the painting now invites visitors to appreciate the quiet dignity and everyday grace of antebellum portraiture.
About the Artist
Erastus Salisbury Field · 1805–1900
1805–1900