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Georgianna Frances Adams by Asher B. Durand / American Art
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Georgianna Frances Adams

1835 Asher B. Durand Born: Jefferson Village, New Jersey 1796 Died: Maplewood, New Jersey 1886 oil on canvas 24 x 20 in. (61.0 x 50.8 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Adams-Clement Collection, gift of Mary Louisa Adams Clement in memory of her mother, Louisa Catherine Adams Clement 1950.6.2 Smithsonian American Art Museum
3rd Floor, Luce Foundation Center



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Georgianna Frances Adams



“I am also doing one of [John Quincy Adams’s] little granddaughters . . . as a compliment to the old gentleman. She is a beautiful subject and by [three] sittings I have already got a good likeness . . . then I have promised to paint another grand daughter [sic] of Mr. Adams for himself, the sister of the other.” Asher B. Durand letter in Durand Papers, New York Public Library, quoted in A.B. Durand: 1796-1886, Montclair Art Museum, N.J., 1971


“Fanny” Adams was the granddaughter of John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States. She was five years old when Asher Durand created this portrait. Like so many children of that era, she died young, succumbing to illness only two years later. But Durand’s painting preserves the joyful spirit of a beloved daughter, and puts a human face on the history of the Adams dynasty.

For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.


Keywords

Portrait female - Adams, Georgianna Frances - child

Portrait female - Adams, Georgianna Frances - waist length

painting

paint - oil

fabric - canvas

About Asher B. Durand

Born: Jefferson Village, New Jersey 1796 Died: Maplewood, New Jersey 1886

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Asher B. Durand

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