This portrait of Nancy Foy Lawson is a rare example of a commission featuring an African American women in nineteenth-century American art. Maine artist William Matthew Prior painted Lawson and her husband in Boston. Prior breaks with precedence and adopts conventions for this portrait similar to those of his white sitters. Lawson is portrayed wearing an elegant dark green dress with layers and large snow white collar with patterned edge as well as a light offwhite bonnet with ruffles and peach tie. Her only visible jewelry is a strong gold ring on her right hand and a black tie necklace with gold clasp. She is holding an open book, signifying her education and literacy. Lawson sits in front of luxurious red drapery and a pastoral landscape backdrop, an artistic trope typical in painted portraits of the time. Married to a clothing merchant, Lawson was originally from Maine, though lived at the time in Boston. This painting suggests her elite status as a free Black woman. Prior likely encountered Lawson and her husband William through their shared connections to a nineteenth century religious movement that sometimes espoused equality among races and genders.

Mrs. Nancy Lawson by William Matthew Prior (American) - Oil on canvas / 1843 - Shelburne Museum (Vermont) #womeninart #portrait #painting #ShelburneMuseum #art #artwork #WilliamMatthewPrior #fineart #womensart #portraitofawoman #prior #oilpainting #poc #americanart #africanamericanwoman #artoftheday

This arresting portrait of a bespectacled woman standing before a window has charmed members of the Harvard community for decades. Her steady gaze and the detailed depiction of her hair, jewelry, and black tailored gown convey agency and intelligence. These specific elements of self-fashioning demonstrate Prior’s skill in representing the rich inner lives of his subjects through their surroundings and the objects they wear and hold. The resemblance of the subject’s dress to academic and priestly robes has inspired new research. Harvard Art Museums curators are exploring the possibility that our subject may have lived around Albany, New York, and either attended or led one of the institutions for higher education for women in the region. They are also investigating the possibility that the portrait is an early example of Prior’s “spirit effect” portraits, in which he painted from memory posthumous portraits of individuals who influenced him.

Woman with Spectacles by William Matthew Prior (American) - Oil on canvas / c. 1838 - Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, Massachusetts) #womeninart #womansart #painting #art #glasses #portrait #artwork #bsky.art #williammatthewprior #bskyart #harvardartmuseums #harvard #prior #womanart #artoftheday