Johnson’s paintings of women are often his best portraits, exhibiting a range of techniques and emphasizing their intelligent faces even when enwrapped in sumptuous fabrics, such as we see in Edwina Booth. —PH
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library website, accessed May 14, 2014: "Bust-length portrait of woman, Mary Devlin Booth, looking over her own left shoulder (PL [proper left]), hair parted in center, with brooch at lace collar; she has long hair, pulled back from face; dark background."
Label on verso: My grandmother, Mary Devlin Booth – painted by Eastman Johnson – [illegible/partially missing section including at least half of a letter, which could be an E]. B. G.
Married to Edwin Booth. She looks to our right. Smooth face; pastel-like quality, especially on neck (slight strokes). Graphite line along top li; and right of nose. Highlights on eyes. Very serene image. Brush shawl collar; indistinct cameo brooch. Hair almost blends into background, but nice chiaroscuro. Shadow of nose clearly done. Brown black background.
Mary Devlin Booth (1840–1863). Actress. Wife of Edwin Booth (m. 1860). Booth, himself portrayed several times by Johnson, commissioned the artist to paint her portrait twenty years after her death.
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See all Period Portrait Copies by Other Artists after Johnson.