Portrait of Etta Moten by Mary Peterson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is an oil painting of Etta Moten Barnett by Mary C. Peterson. It depicts Etta Moten Barnett standing in the center of the portrait, shown from the thighs up. She stands with her hands clasped together in front of her, her body and head very slightly twisted away from the viewer. Her gaze is off to the viewer’s right. She wears a fitted mock-neck short sleeve shirt with narrow horizontal stripes in white dark red, green, rust, and navy. Her left wrist has several bracelets and possibly a watch. A colorful piece of green, yellow and pink cloth hangs from her hands. Visible next to her is the top part of a carved wood chair. Behind her is a dark purple drapery against a dull gold background with a partial gold floral pattern. In the bottom right corner is the artist’s signature and date.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1949
• Created by: Mary C. Peterson, American, 1886 - 1967
• Subject of: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: oil paintings
• Type: portraits
• Medium: oil
• Dimensions: H x W x D (framed): 46 1/16 × 37 5/8 × 1 5/8 in. (117 × 95.5 × 4.2 cm)
• Place used: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: A2022.13.1.6
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Mary C. Peterson Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.