Ralph Earl (American, 1751–1801). <em>Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh)</em>, 1789. Oil on canvas, 47 9/16 x 35 15/16 in. (120.8 x 91.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 48.8 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.8_PS20.jpg)

Ralph Earl (American, 1751–1801). Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh), 1789. Oil on canvas, 47 9/16 x 35 15/16 in. (120.8 x 91.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 48.8 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.8_PS20.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Interesting that the setting is outdoors. This would have been painted separately, right?

Yes! But keep in mind that artists of the colonial era didn't paint outside at that point in history. Prior to the invention of tube paints, it was very difficult to work in the outdoors. Ralph Earl likely based the background on what would compositionally look best rather than accurately depicting the landscape. He may have been working from a printed reproduction of a landscape painting by another artist.

As you move through the galleries you'll see how American artists begin to embrace the American landscape, painting more from observation and later painting entirely outside their studios and outdoors!

I am wondering what she is holding in her hand. Is it a letter opener?

Ralph Earl's portrait of Clarissa Seymour was painted when she was just 17. She is holding a closed fan, a popular accessory at the time for young ladies.

Could you please tell me about this painting?

Sure thing! This painting by Ralph Earl depicts Clarissa Seymour, who was 17 at the time it was painted in 1789. Earl combined the portrait painting style that he learned in England with a more realistic way of showing his patrons when he was working in Connecticut.

Earl meticulously depicted her clothing, including the lovely patterns on her outfit, which shows the viewer that Seymour was a wealthy woman of high status.

Thank you.

Who is she?

Hi there! You're looking at a portrait of Clarissa Seymour by Ralph Earl. Here we see Earl combine the traditional portrait painting style he learned in England with a more realistic approach to depicting his clients.

Seymour was a prominent member of society in Litchfield, Connecticut. Her father had been a captain in the Revolutionary War and was a merchant and landowner. Her powdered hair, her flowing dress, and her jewelry were very stylish for the late 1780s! This portrait was made two years before her marriage to Truman March, a church rector and Yale graduate.

Let me know if you'd like to know more about the artist, the sitter, or anything else during your visit today!

Who is this woman? The description only tells about the conservation process.

This is Clarissa Seymour who is seventeen in this portrait. She later married Truman Marsh who was a Rector in the Episcopal Church. She lived to be 94!

Do you know why she has a knife?

I think what you're referring to is just her fan, a fashionable accessory for 18th century ladies! It was also an invaluable way to keep cool during the hot, humid summers of the northeastern United States.

What's in her hand?

It's a folded fan! Fans were a popular fashion accessory for women in the 18th century, and were also very useful to help keep cool through their many layers of clothing and corsetry.

You'll see another fan in the hand of Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes in the same gallery.

Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh)

Ralph Earl

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

Ralph Earl prepared this canvas by applying two overall priming layers, dark red followed by gray. These layers were not fully dried when he began painting the portrait. As the priming continued to dry, it pulled the upper image layers apart, revealing the darker colors below, as in the skirt. The sloped, soft edges of these drying cracks distinguish them from age cracks, which have sharper, broken edges. Because the cracks resulted from the artist’s working practice rather than damage, Museum conservators opted to leave them visible in the most recent restoration.

ARTIST Ralph Earl, American, 1751–1801

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

DATES 1789

DIMENSIONS 47 9/16 x 35 15/16 in. (120.8 x 91.3 cm) frame: 49 13/16 x 38 3/16 x 2 3/8 in. (126.5 x 97 x 6 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed left center: "R.Earl Pinxt 1789"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 48.8

CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund

PROVENANCE 1789, commissioned from the artist by Moses Seymour of Litchfield, CT; 1826, inherited from Moses Seymour by Ozias Seymour of Litchfield; after 1851, inherited from Ozias Seymour by Origen Storrs Seymour and Lucy Morris Woodruff Seymour (Mrs. Origen Storrs Seymour) of Litchfield; by 1894, inherited from Lucy Morris Woodruff Seymour by Morris Woodruff Seymour and Charlotte Sanford Seymour (Mrs. Morris Woodruff Seymour) of Litchfield; by 1938, inherited from Charlotte Sanford Seymour by Origen Storrs Seymour and Frances Bolton Lord Seymour (Mrs. Origen S. Seymour); by 1947, inherited by Frances Lord Seymour Vernon (Mrs. Miles H. Vernon); by 1948; acquired from Frances Lord Seymour Vernon by M. Knoedler & Co., New York, NY; February 11, 1948, purchased from M. Knoedler & Co. by the Brooklyn Museum.

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EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

CAPTION Ralph Earl (American, 1751–1801). Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh), 1789. Oil on canvas, 47 9/16 x 35 15/16 in. (120.8 x 91.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 48.8 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.8_PS20.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 48.8_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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