Wyntje (Lavinia) Van Vechten
Attributed to Nehemiah Partridge
American Art
On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
Portraits of Pan-American Privilege
These women’s ancestors were among the first European colonizers of the Americas. Some of those colonists crossed the Atlantic to serve the global ambitions of the various crowns of Europe, and others came as economic and religious refugees from Spain, England, and the Dutch Republic. By the eighteenth century, fabulous fortunes had been amassed throughout the region, reflected here in the European-inspired dress and jewelry worn by three privileged Americans.
Miguel Cabrera, eighteenth-century Mexico’s premier painter, portrayed Doña María de la Luz wearing imported silk brocade and five chiqueadores, or glued false beauty spots. Boston’s leading portraitist, John Singleton Copley, painted the monarchist Abigail Pickman Gardiner sporting an uncorseted dress—probably the artist’s invention, since the style was considered inappropriate in New England society but was the height of London fashion. The Hudson Valley portraitist Nehemiah Partridge captured Wyntje Van Vechten’s likeness with more restraint, emphasizing her simple hairstyle, minimal jewelry, and modest dress.
These women’s ancestors were among the first European colonizers of the Americas. Some of those colonists crossed the Atlantic to serve the global ambitions of the various crowns of Europe, and others came as economic and religious refugees from Spain, England, and the Dutch Republic. By the eighteenth century, fabulous fortunes had been amassed throughout the region, reflected here in the European-inspired dress and jewelry worn by three privileged Americans.
Miguel Cabrera, eighteenth-century Mexico’s premier painter, portrayed Doña María de la Luz wearing imported silk brocade and five chiqueadores, or glued false beauty spots. Boston’s leading portraitist, John Singleton Copley, painted the monarchist Abigail Pickman Gardiner sporting an uncorseted dress—probably the artist’s invention, since the style was considered inappropriate in New England society but was the height of London fashion. The Hudson Valley portraitist Nehemiah Partridge captured Wyntje Van Vechten’s likeness with more restraint, emphasizing her simple hairstyle, minimal jewelry, and modest dress.
MEDIUM
Oil on linen
DATES
1720
DIMENSIONS
40 3/16 x 34 9/16 in. (102 x 87.8 cm)
frame: 49 3/16 x 43 9/16 x 2 1/4 in. (124.9 x 110.6 x 5.7 cm) (show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed lower right: "Etas. Su[e] / 18- / 172[0]"
COLLECTIONS
American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
43.36
CREDIT LINE
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION
Attributed to Nehemiah Partridge (American, 1683–before 1737). Wyntje (Lavinia) Van Vechten, 1720. Oil on linen, 40 3/16 x 34 9/16 in. (102 x 87.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 43.36 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 43.36_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 43.36_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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