Portrait of Hiram Powers’ Daughter

Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, Portrait of Hiram Powers' Daughter, n.d., oil on canvas, 24 ¹⁄₄ x 20 in. (61.5 x 50.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Martha F. Butler, 1992.66.5

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Artwork Details

Title: Portrait of Hiram Powers’ Daughter
Artist: Miner Kilbourne Kellogg
Date: n.d.
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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4A
Dimensions: 24 ¹⁄₄ x 20 in. (61.5 x 50.8 cm.)
Credit Line: Bequest of Martha F. Butler
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Portrait female — Powers, Hiram, Daughter of
Figure female — child — waist length
Object Number: 1992.66.5
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1992.66.5

Artwork Description

This girl is thought to be Louisa Greenough Powers, the sculptor Hiram Powers’s oldest daughter. In this portrait, she is about ten or eleven years old and wears a white robe and holds a cross, symbolizing her purity and innocence. Miner Kilbourne Kellogg painted her face to reflect the quality of marble, as if to pay homage to Hiram Powers’s rank as the leading American sculptor of his day. Kellogg may have painted this portrait as a token of thanks to Powers for securing him a studio in Florence.