Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh)
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Object Label
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.
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) frame: 49 13/16 x 38 3/16 x 2 3/8 in. (126.5 x 97 x 6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 48.8. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.8_PS20.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh)
Date
1789
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
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)
Signatures
Signed left center: "R.Earl Pinxt 1789"
Credit Line
Museum Collection Fund
Accession Number
48.8
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
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.
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