John Smart, Portrait of a Woman, 1777

Chicago:

Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, “John Smart, Portrait of a Woman, 1777,” catalogue entry in Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan, The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, vol. 4, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025), https://doi.org/10.37764/8322.5.1550.

MLA:

Marcereau DeGalan, Aimee. “John Smart, Portrait of a Woman, 1777,” catalogue entry. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Blythe Sobol, and Maggie Keenan. The Starr Collection of Portrait Miniatures, 1500–1850: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, edited by Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, vol. 4, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025. doi: 10.37764/8322.5.1550.

See the artist’s biography in volume 4.

This portrait miniature of a fashionable young woman was painted by John Smart the same year he ascended to the position of vice president of the Society of Artists of Great Britain, shortly thereafter becoming its president. This period marked a time of increasing prestige for Smart as he navigated London’s social circles, painting some of its most prominent residents. Among his subjects were the present sitter and Charlotte Bertie, Countess of Abingdon, née Warren, who also posed for Smart that same year (Fig. 1). In both portraits, Smart details the fashionable attire and hairstyles of his sitters. He vividly portrays the countess’s fur-trimmed white silk dress and ermine-bordered blue shot-silk cloak; similarly, he depicts the Nelson-Atkins sitter’s lavish Van Dyck dress, highlighting its deep blue and white silks, pearl-encrusted details, and lace collar. The late 1770s were characterized by such fashionable excesses, including towering hairstyles adorned with pearls and long, coiling curls cascading over the shoulders, as evidenced in both portraits.

While the portraits share many similarities, a unique condition issue affects the Nelson-Atkins miniature, causing a subtle visual distortion in the sitter’s face. Compared to other examples by Smart, the sitter’s pallor and underlying facial structure exhibit an unusual softness. This effect was initially attributed to a scratched glass case, but closer examination revealed a mirror image pigment transfer onto the glass (Fig. 2), affecting the highlights in the irises, cheeks, and lips.¹ While the cause of this pigment transfer remains unclear, the decision was made to retain the original (scratched) glass to preserve the visual integrity of the composition.

The identity of the Nelson-Atkins sitter remains unknown, but the manner in which the miniature was worn suggests she was cherished by someone. The piece is housed in an eighteenth-century bracelet mount, later converted to a brooch and then set into a Victorian locket, indicating it was likely worn on the body as a token of affection.

Notes

1. This observation began while examining the portrait under ultraviolet light on January 31, 2019 (notes in NAMA curatorial files). Conservators Carol Aiken and Stephanie Spence noted an efflorescence of pigment in the sitter’s eyes, ears, lips, and lower cheeks, suggesting the possibility of the presence of lake pigment.

Mr. John W. (1905–2000) and Mrs. Martha Jane (1906–2011) Starr, Kansas City, MO, by 1965;

Their gift to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1965.

The Starr Foundation Collection of Miniatures, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, December 8, 1972–January 14, 1973, no cat., no. 103, as Unknown Lady.

John Smart: Virtuoso in Miniature, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, December 21, 2024–January 4, 2026, no cat., as Portrait of a Woman.

Ross E. Taggart, The Starr Collection of Miniatures in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery (Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, 1971), no. 103, p. 39, (repro.), as Unknown Lady.