The Blush of Youth
This girl's flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and graceful gestures hint at a vibrant personality. The artist John Valentine Haidt, who was a lay preacher and painter in the Moravian community, also delights in rendering details of her traditional costume—from the pointed waistline to the elegantly slit sleeves. The Moravians were a communal society that began in the fifteenth century in Moravia and Bohemia, which today are parts of the Czech Republic. Many Moravians settled in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. This work is a reminder of the search for religious freedom that led many to migrate to America.
This artwork is part of our traveling exhibition Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, currently on view at Middlebury College Museum of Art in Middlebury, Vermont.
Source: Gwen Everett. Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured: John Valentine Haidt, 1700 Germany–1780 USA, Young Moravian Girl, about 1755–60, oil, 30 3/8 x 25 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the American Art Forum.
This girl's flushed cheeks, bright eyes, and graceful gestures hint at a vibrant personality. The artist John Valentine Haidt, who was a lay preacher and painter in the Moravian community, also delights in rendering details of her traditional costume—from the pointed waistline to the elegantly slit sleeves. The Moravians were a communal society that began in the fifteenth century in Moravia and Bohemia, which today are parts of the Czech Republic. Many Moravians settled in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. This work is a reminder of the search for religious freedom that led many to migrate to America.