Portrait of Miss Pollock in a White Dress

Maker Sir William Beechey (British, 1753 - 1839)

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca. 1800

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensionscanvas: 50 × 40 in. (127 × 101.6 cm.) frame: 57 1/8 × 47 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (145.1 × 120 × 9.5 cm.)

DescriptionThis a three-quarter length portrait of Miss Pollock.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Mary Ann and John Sturgeon

Status

On view

Label TextIn this portrait, a young woman wearing an elegant white gown sits in a wooded landscape with a sketchbook on her lap. Drawing was considered an appropriate activity for upper class women, who would have received instruction at home, through a tutor or a drawing master. Knowledge of art and cultivation of some amateur skill were considered markers of a young woman's refinement. Women of the lower classes, who had to work, could not afford the time or money for drawing lessons. With a simple clue like this, the artist signals his sitter's place within society.

Object number2022.5