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Maud Powell

National Portrait Gallery

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Object Details

Artist
Nicholas Richard Brewer, 1857 - 1949
Sitter
Maud Powell, 22 Aug 1868 - 8 Jan 1920
Exhibition Label
Violinist Maud Powell was a child prodigy who gave her first public performance when she was eight. After study in Leipzig, Paris, and Berlin, she became well known through solo performances at orchestral concerts in Europe and the United States. In 1894 she formed the Maud Powell String Quartet, which debuted at Carnegie Hall. That year she also became the first instrumentalist to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company on the prestigious Red Seal label. Between 1905 and 1919 she made more than seventy recordings, which have recently been re-released. When Powell came to sit for this portrait, she brought her 1775 Guadagnini violin and suggested that the artist arrange "an unconventional costume." He selected a gown that had belonged to an opera star, and noted that "of course, the violin with its beautiful red color had to be in the picture."
Provenance
The Maud Powell Society for Music and Education, Arlington, Va., Karen Schaffer, President; donor sponsored gift to NPG 2001
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Joyce McFarland Dlugopolski (in memory of George A. Doole, Jr.) and the Maud Powell Society for Music and Education
1918-1919
Object number
NPG.2001.74
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 148 x 122.8cm (58 1/4 x 48 3/8")
Frame: 168.3 x 143.5 x 5.7cm (66 1/4 x 56 1/2 x 2 1/4")
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Interior\Studio\Art
Music\Musical instrument\Violin
Music\Sheet music
Maud Powell: Female
Maud Powell: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Violinist
Portrait
Record ID
npg_NPG.2001.74
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4eb8a202d-a23f-4b5c-8bd3-e54ff675dbf3

Related Content

  • 1918: A Year in the Collections

  • Violins

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