Margaret Siddons, Mrs. Benjamin Kintzing
Artist
Thomas Sully
(American, born in England, 1783–1872)
Date1812
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 91.4 × 73.7 cm (36 × 29 in.)
framed: 108.7 × 90.8 cm (42 13/16 × 35 3/4 in.)
framed: 108.7 × 90.8 cm (42 13/16 × 35 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1917.35
DescriptionMargaret Siddons Kintzing (Mrs. Benjamin Kintzing) is a slightly more than half-length view of a seated young woman. Her blue-gray eyes are directed at the viewer, and her pale skin has pink highlights, especially on the cheeks and chin. Her light-brown hair is parted in the middle, and two ringlets curl at either side of the brow; the rest of her hair is pulled back into a low bun, revealing her long neck and her proper left ear.The sitter wears a high-waisted white dress with a low, square neckline and short, puffy sleeves. Sully used broad brushstrokes highlighted with impasto for the dress, and he painted the shadows in its folds a light blue.
The sitter’s proper right arm is extended at her side, and her right hand, with its fingers curved toward the palm, rests in her lap. Her proper left arm is delicately positioned on the gilded and carved armrest of what appears to be a backless sofa with a yellow-gold tufted bolster. The armrest consists of a long, curved, feathered neck and head of a bird, whose left eye is visible. The pupil, beak markings, and feathers contain impasto. Hanging from the beak is a large bale; touches of red paint highlight the yellow-gold color of the beak and the bale.
Light enters from the upper right. The bird’s head and Margaret Siddons Kintzing’s left hand cast a shadow on her white dress that resembles an open beak. The lower-left corner of the portrait—including the sitter’s lap, right hand, forearm, and the column—is in shadow. A red curtain behind her is pulled back to reveal the base of a fluted marble column at the bottom left. There is evidence of an underdrawing along the base of the column. Just behind the column is a bit of blue sky filled with pink-tinged white clouds.
Label TextMargaret Siddons Kintzing sat for Thomas Sully between September and November 1812, at the moment when the artist was setting Philadelphia on fire with his fashionable portraiture. The elegant line of Mrs. Kintzing’s body, which gracefully curves and counter curves, is one of the artist’s trademarks. So, too, are the delicate glazes of pinks and roses that animate her skin and dress, as well as the dramatic lighting from the side, and the suggestion of coiled movement in her posture. Born in England, Thomas Sully came to South Carolina with his actor parents and made his stage debut as a child. Visual, rather than performing arts, soon claimed him. After working in Charleston, Richmond, and New York, he settled in Philadelphia, where he became one of the nation’s leading artists for decades. Clients both there and elsewhere clamored for his elegant works.ProvenanceBrooks Reed Gallery, Boston MA
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