The Sketcher: A Portrait of Mlle Rosina, a Jewess
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Object Label
Daniel Huntington, a leading nineteenth-century American figure painter, based this “portrait” on a favorite model. He intended it to be an ideal figure personifying the art of drawing and the spirit of creativity. Perhaps owing to its reference to art-making, Huntington chose this work to fulfill a commission from the fledgling Brooklyn Institute (the forerunner of the Brooklyn Museum), whose painting collection had been formally initiated in 1851.
Caption
Daniel Huntington American, 1816–1906. The Sketcher: A Portrait of Mlle Rosina, a Jewess, 1858. Oil on canvas, 39 x 31 3/16 in. (99.1 x 79.2 cm) frame: 51 x 43 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. (129.5 x 110.5 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Transferred from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences to the Brooklyn Museum, 97.33. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 97.33_SL1.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Artist
Title
The Sketcher: A Portrait of Mlle Rosina, a Jewess
Date
1858
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
39 x 31 3/16 in. (99.1 x 79.2 cm) frame: 51 x 43 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. (129.5 x 110.5 x 10.8 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower right: "D. Huntington / Paris 1858"
Inscriptions
Signed verso stretcher upper center: "painted by D. Huntington / Paris 1858"; inscribed verso stretcher upper center (in unknown hand): "The Sketcher--a portrait of Mlle Rosina, a jewess"
Credit Line
Transferred from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences to the Brooklyn Museum
Accession Number
97.33
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
I wanted to know more about Mlle Rosina, the subject of this painting.
This work is actually a "portrait" in quotations because it isn't actually a portrait of the woman Mademoiselle Rosina. Huntington based this work on a favorite model.The woman is intended to be an ideal figure, personifying the art of drawing and the spirit of creativity. This was something artists commonly did at the time -- portraying women as symbols of virtues or other abstract ideas.What is she thinking and drawing?
Great question! The woman is intended to be an ideal figure personifying the art of drawing and the spirit of creativity. There seems to be a sketch of a palm tree on the page of her sketchbook, like a detail of a faraway landscape.What is the relation with Brooklyn?Daniel Huntington was a leading nineteenth-century American figure painter. Perhaps owing to its reference to art-making, Huntington chose this work to fulfill a commission from the fledgling Brooklyn Institute (the forerunner of the Brooklyn Museum), whose painting collection had been formally initiated in 1851.Thanks!You're welcome!
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