Mrs. Edward Green (Mary Storer)

John Singleton Copley

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Copley produced at least fifty-five pastel portraits before he left America in 1774. The artist and his affluent sitters would have been aware of the fashionability of pastels in Europe, and Copley, who worked rather painstakingly in oil, probably enjoyed the expedience and brilliance offered by the crayons. Few masters of this difficult medium have been able to match his expert rendering of satin, lace, pearls, flowers, and background drapery. Mary Storer Green was one of several family members who opted for pastel portraits from Copley.

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