This oil painting shows Jane Mathilda Bolin, an African American woman in her mid-thirties, seated in left profile but turning her head to meet our gaze. Bolin was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School (1931) and, in 1939, the first Black woman appointed to a judgeship in the United States, sworn in by New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. American artist Betsy Graves Reyneau traveled to New York in January 1944 to paint her, choosing professionalism with clasped hands, a turned body, and a gaze that refuses to soften. Her medium-deep brown skin is modeled with warm tans and cool shadows, emphasizing a focused, slightly furrowed expression that’s calm, guarded, and resolute. Bolin’s dark hair is swept up and back in soft rolls. She wears a vivid crimson coat with a high, turned collar and broad lapel. Its saturated red dominates the composition and catches subtle highlights along the sleeve and shoulder to become a declaration of visibility like authority made present, on her own terms. Her hands rest together in her lap, fingers interlaced, with neatly painted red nails. A wedding band and a wristwatch feel like practical jewelry. Behind her, a flat, deep teal background creates a stage-like stillness that pushes her figure forward. Light falls from the left, brightening her forehead and cheekbone, while the far side of her face recedes into cooler tones. No props interrupt our encounter do authority is carried in posture, restraint, and presence. Reyneau painted this portrait in 1944 for the Harmon Foundation’s exhibition “Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin,” which opened at the Smithsonian in 1944 and toured for a decade to counter racist stereotypes.
“Jane Mathilda Bolin” by Betsy Graves Reyneau (American) - Oil on canvas / 1944 - National Portrait Gallery (Washington, DC) #WomenInArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #BetsyGravesReyneau #BetsyGraves #Reyneau #NationalPortraitGallery #artText #BlueskyArt #JaneMatildaBolin #WomenPaintingWomen
