Alyn Williams, Dr. William Henry Holmes, 1928, watercolor and pencil on paper, sight 5 5⁄8 x 4 in. (14.3 x 10.2 cm) rectangle, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1931.2.11
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Dr. William Henry Holmes
- Artist
- Date
- 1928
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- sight 5 5⁄8 x 4 in. (14.3 x 10.2 cm) rectangle
- Credit Line
- Gift of the artist
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- watercolor and pencil on paper
- Subjects
- Occupation — medicine — doctor
- Portrait male — Holmes, William Henry, Dr. — bust
- Object Number
- 1931.2.11
Artwork Description
In 1920, William Henry Holmes became the first director of the first National Gallery of Art, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He was an accomplished anthropologist, archaeologist, artist, and geologist. Holmes’s many talents made him indispensable on many archaeological expeditions to New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico, and South America. When the artist presented this miniature as a gift to the Museum, Holmes conveyed his gratitude in a letter to Williams, saying, “your generous thoughtfulness thus enables me to leave in the National Gallery of Art my only portrait other than those by photograph.”