One of the Adams Children

Unidentified

ca. 1820

One of the Adams Children by Unidentified

Medium

Painting

Classification

Painting

Department

Smithsonian Collection

Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Credit

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Adams-Clement Collection, gift of Mary Louisa Adams Clement in memory of her mother, Louisa Catherine Adams Clement

Accession Number

1950.6.9

Tags

waterflowerchildRecreation

About this artwork

A little girl sits in an imaginary wooded setting with mountains off in the distance. The artist painted red flowers to match the red bows on her dress and in her hair. The flower from which she picks the petals that fall to the ground may have symbolized the child’s death, but it is unclear if this was created as a memorial portrait. (Fink, “Children as Innocence from Cole to Cassatt,” Nineteenth Century, Winter 1977)

About the Artist

Unidentified ( ) ·

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