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Portfolios%3D%22716%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Phillips,%20Ammi%22
Painting
Old Woman with a Bible
Ammi Phillips, 1788 - 1865
Phillips, Ammi
United States
1788 - 1865
Male
33 1/2 x 28 in. (85.1 x 71.1 cm)
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approximate installation dimensions
frame
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without frame
Oil
Oil
ca. 1834
1829
1839
1800-1900, 19th century, folk art, paintings, portraits, women
Painting
We take for granted the ability to record our families' faces. Even the likenesses of those long-dead are etched in our memories by their photographs. But before cameras and film, the only way to save a "likeness" was to create a life or death mask, draw or paint a picture, or make a sculpture.
In rural New York State, many portraits were done by painters like Ammi Phillips who had a minimal amount of training. Their customers, in turn, passed paintings down through the generations until all too often, the identity of the sitters was lost.
If we don't know whose portrait this was, and if Ammi Phillips was not an academically trained artist, why do we continue to appreciate this work and keep it in a museum? The directness of human spirit that these paintings convey combined with the intricacy of design and patterning create a work filled with the "visual delight" that we search for in a work of art.
[Gallery label text, 2008]
This woman’s identity has not been preserved, but we might speculate with confidence that she was a devout person, as her arm is placed so firmly on the Bible. Notice, too, how carefully the artist painted the fabric of her day-cap, the embroidery on her shawl, and even the tasseled trim of the curtains.
[Gallery label text, 2008]
1984.22
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
84.22TR1
Transparency
Memorial Art Gallery
4 x 5
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84.22SL1
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negative
4x5
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84.22DI1
digital image
Memorial Art Gallery
Imaging complete
7/14/2000
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84.22DI2
digital image
Memorial Art Gallery
Imaging complete
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84.22SL2
slide
detail face during conservation
2 x 2
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84.22SL3
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detail embroidery band
2 x 2
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glossy
full
8 x 10
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digital image
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