William Wilson
ca. 1826
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
Accession Number
1980.126.1
Tags
About this artwork
William Wilson (1762-1844) was born in Scotland and, after moving to New York, married Agnes Ann Kerr of Edenton, North Carolina, in 1786. Their grandchildrenâs marriages into the Lamb and Repiton families of North Carolina are commemorated in four other miniatures in this collection, of William Boswell Lamb and his wife, Margaret Kerr Lamb (see 1980.126.4 and 1980.126.5), and Joseph Lavoir Repiton and his wife, Marguerite Tangier Repiton (see 1980.126.2 and 1980.126.3).
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...