Painted in 1767, this work by America's first truly American painter has earned its place in the splendid new (2009) volume, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks. My former colleague Paula Reich, author of the entry on Young Lady with a Bird and a Dog, has found a letter to Copley pointing out its mixed reception at the London Society of Artists Exhibition: "you have been universally condemned in the choice of your Subject, which is [of] so disagreeable a Character as to have made the Picture disliked by every one but the best Judges who could discern the Excellence of the Painting."Indeed, for some 240 years now, viewers have found the expression of the unnamed little girl in this portrait inexplicably unpleasant. One gets the feeling that she and Copley did not enjoy the many hours they spent confined together during the making of this picture. I have always wished I could like her, but I don't.
What I have always liked is her lovely pink satin dress with the lace and blue ribbon trim on the sleeves. And I came to like it even better when I sewed a replica of it for the TMA's "Halloween Fantasy" event, when staff members and volunteers dressed up and brought the paintings to life in the galleries. And I liked it better still when I was able to convince my daughter, then about 10, to wear it and hand out prizes (not candy!) to the children coursing through the museum.
There is more to say about Copley, of course, and about this painting. But I will end here with a birthday salutation to the artist, born on this date in 1738, and congratulations to Brian P. Kennedy, who was named TMA's ninth director just yesterday (www.toledoblade.com/article/20100630/NEWS16/6300310).
