Chester Harding (US, 1792-1866)

Chester Harding
(American, 1792-1866)

"Portrait of Mrs. McDonnell and Daughters Cora Ann and Alice", ca. 1842

oil on canvas
unsigned.
Framed.
36-3/8" x 29-1/8", framed 43" x 35-3/4"

Provenance: With the McDonnells, thence by descent to their elder daughter (pictured), Cora Ann McDonnell McGraw (1839-1906); to her daughter, Cora McGraw Law (1867-1957); to her niece, Lucille "Lucy" McGraw Collins (1893-1950); to her son Frederick Hunter Collins, Jr. (1921-1967) and his wife Josephine Thomas Collins Watkins (1924-1992); to their son Frederick Hunter Collins III (b. 1949).

Exhibited: Cabildo, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, 1942;
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky. Washington, D.C., 1985.

Literature: Accompanied by select correspondence with the heirs, including two 1942-1943 exhibition letters from the Louisiana State Museum sent to Cora Law; a 1984 letter from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute sent to Josephine Collins confirming the inclusion of the painting in its exhibition catalogue; and a 2003 letter from a conservator to the current owner.

Mrs. Thomas Nelson Carter Bruns, Louisiana Portraits, New Orleans, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1975, p. 180; Leah Lipton, A Truthful Likeness: Chester Harding and His Portraits. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.; J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky. Washington, D.C., 1985.
Dimensions: 35.75 x 43 in
Condition Report: In overall good, professionally restored condition. The painting has been relined and restretched on new stretchers. Small inpainted "touch-ups" are scattered throughout. There is some blooming (whitish haze) and surface inconsistencies to the varnish layer in the background of the painting. Under UV light, there are two older repairs - a small patch to the lower right center and a tear repair to the mother's left hand/wrist.