Two Studies: Woman Sewing; Woman at a Desk (from Sketchbook)
ca. 1838 and after
Medium
Graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
6 5/8 x 8 in. (16.8 x 20.3 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Sheila and Richard J. Schwartz Fund, 1987
Accession Number
1987.196.3bb
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil pages of Francis William Edmonds' sketch from around 1838 and later, find *Two Studies: Woman Sewing Woman at a Desk*. intimate graphite drawing on off-white wove paper (6 5/8 x 8 in.) captures everyday American domestic life, rendered with the precise, observational skill of a 19th-century genre artist. Edmonds, a New York banker turned painter (1806–1863), was celebrated for his detailed scenes of middle-class pursuits, drawing inspiration from Dutch masters like Jan Steen while rooting his work in antebellum America. The two studies depict women absorbed in quiet tasks—sewi...
About the Artist
Francis William Edmonds · 1806–1863
Francis William Edmonds, born on November 22, 1806, in Hudson, New York, into a prominent Quaker family as the seventh child of storekeeper and public servant Samuel Edmonds and Lydia Worth Edmonds, displayed remarkable artistic talent from youth. After Quaker schooling and farm work, he entered banking in 1823 as a clerk at the Tradesmen's Bank in New York City under his uncle Gorham Worth, a pat...