Family Portrait

Deborah Goldsmith, American

c.1832

Oil on panel

Saint Louis Art Museum

A family is gathered in a room with a fireplace and a window. A woman sits reading a book to two children, while a man stands nearby and another man sits in a chair. A father listens as his wife reads to their two small children. Nearby a family servant cradles the baby in her lap (slavery had been abolished in this area in 1827). The quiet of this family gathering contrasts with surprisingly exuberant patterns and textures in the room. The artist formed the lace on the clothing with raised textures, and the floral rug's flattened pattern reveals her talent for surface decoration. Deborah Goldsmith is one of the earliest known American women to embark on a career as a professional portrait painter.…