Ammi Phillips
American, 1788–1865
Portrait of Harriet Campbell
c. 1815
Harriet Campbell was seven years old when this portrait was painted, though her formal costume makes her appear older. Phillips was a successful itinerant artist, working in small towns along the borders of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Unlike other early American painters, he was not trained in the European traditions of portraiture. Largely self-taught, he focused on capturing convincing likenesses and creating decorative color arrangements, often reusing poses and clothing.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 48 1/2 x 25 in. (123.2 x 63.5 cm) Frame: 51 7/8 x 28 7/8 x 2 in. (131.8 x 73.3 x 5.1 cm) |
| Object Number | 1991.8 |
| Acquisition | Gift of Oliver Eldridge in memory of Sarah Fairchild Anderson, teacher of art, North Adams Public Schools, daughter of Harriet Campbell, 1991 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Ammi Phillips, Portrait of Harriet Campbell, c. 1815, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, gift of Oliver Eldridge in memory of Sarah Fairchild Anderson, teacher of art, North Adams Public Schools, daughter of Harriet Campbell, 1991.8
Bibliography
Heslip, Colleen Cowles. Between the Rivers: Itinerant Painters from the Connecticut to the Hudson. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1990.
Museum of American Folk Art, New York.. Revisiting Ammi Phillips: Fifty Years of American Portraiture. Feb. 5-April 17, 1994; San Diego Museum of Art, July 9-Sept. 4, 1994; Terra Museum of American Art, Oct. 8-Dec. 31, 1994.. 1994..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Particia Edwards Clyne.. "A Portraitist Rediscovered.". Hudson Valley.. Jan. 1993.:pp. 13-17..
Hollander, Stacy C. "Revisiting Ammi Phillips." The Magazine Antiques (February 1994): 266–75.
Jacquelyn Oak.. Sotheby's Guide to American Folk Art.. New York: Sotheby's.. 1994.
Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996.
Barbara C. & Lawrence B. Holdridge & Mary Black.. Ammi Phillips: Portrait Painter, 1788-1865.. New York: Clarkson N. Potter.. 1968..
Jaffee, David. A New Nation of Goods: The Material Culture of Early America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
Conner, Holly Pyne. Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in 19th-Century American Art. Exhibition catalogue. Newark: The Newark Museum; San Francisco: Pomegranate Communications, 2012.
