Catalogue Entry

David Lewis and Caroline E. Einstein, the parents of the sitter, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1882–1909

Caroline E. Einstein, New York, widow of David Lewis Einstein, 1909

Lewis Einstein, her son (the sitter), by 1947

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1947 (by gift)

Society of American Artists, New York, April 6–May 6, 1882. (Exhibition catalogue: Society of American Artists 1882), no. 56, as Portrait, owner Mr. Einstein.

"Fine Arts: The Society of American Artists." The Independent (New York), April 27, 1882, p. 8.

Fifth Annual Exhibition at the American Art Gallery. New York: Society of American Artists, 1882. Exhibition catalogue (1882 Society of American Artists), p. 10, no. 56, as Portrait, Owned by Mr. Einstein, not for sale.

Lewis Einstein letter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1948, "The Eastman Johnson portrait about which you write me has never been out of the possession of my family. The subject is myself, at the age of five, and it was painted in the 'Japanese' room of my father's house at 39 West 57th Street. It was taken to England by my mother in 1910 and since then has hung either in my sister's house near Cambridge, or at my son-in-law's the Marquess of Tweeddale in Scotland [William George Montagu Hay, 11th marquess, who married Marguerite Christine Ralli, step-daughter of Lewis Einstein, in 1912]. It has never been exhibited, The portrait [of Lewis's sister, Florence], which is in a private collection, is the same size as the one of Einstein and was probably intended as a companion to it. The paintings complement each other in the angular pose of the figures and the use of oblique planes and diagonals," quoted in Spassky 1985, p. 11.

Spassky, Natalie, with Linda Bantel, Doreen Bolger Burke, Meg Perlman, and Amy L. Walsh. American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985.