Samuel Cutts

Joseph Blackburn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Blackburn, a British immigrant, worked in the Boston area for only nine years before returning to England. The companion portraits of Samuel Cutts (1726–1801), a prosperous merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Anna Holyoke (1735–1812; 1979.196.2) of Boston, executed around the time of their marriage, seem to have been among the last works he painted in this country. Cutts, his proudly substantial figure dominating the picture, turns to face the spectator. The harbor view through the window refers to his shipping business.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art