Portrait of a Woman (Judith Colman Bulfinch?) (c. 1734): Art, History and Details

Portrait of a Woman (Judith Colman Bulfinch?) (c. 1734) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is John Smibert (Scottish, 1688–1751).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The appearance of a professionally trained British painter in the American colonies in 1729 marks a curcial point in the history of American art. Smibert not only imported the skills necessary to convey the impression of substantial, rounded forms in a picture, but his commercial success also inspired others to contemplate careers as painters. Born in Edinburgh and schooled in London and Italy, Smibert attracted numerous clients upon his arrival in Boston. The low bodice, long neck, and sinuous curl of hair in this portrait follow British conventions for depicting women. Research continues as to the identity of the sitter, long thought to be Mrs. Thomas Bulfinch (born Judith Colman, 1707-1765), since that name does not appear in Smibert's recently discovered records.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of a Woman (Judith Colman Bulfinch?)
• Date: c. 1734
• Creator attribution: John Smibert (Scottish, 1688–1751)
• Culture: America
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 94 x 81 x 6 cm (37 x 31 7/8 x 2 3/8 in.); Unframed: 75.6 x 62.2 cm (29 3/4 x 24 1/2 in.)
• Collection: American - Painting
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1920.3919

Collection credit

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• L. P. "Smibert's Portrait of Mrs. Thomas Bulfinch." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 8, no. 1 (1921): 3-7.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.