The Williamson Family

John Mix Stanley

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stanley is perhaps best known for his depictions of Native Americans whom he painted while travelling out west during the 1840s and 50s. Yet throughout his career he relied on portraiture as his mainstay. Here Stanley depicts the Williamsons, a New York merchant, his wife, and their eldest son, in the comfort of their parlor. While the composition relies on conventional schemes, Stanley has taken care to depict the family’s actual surroundings and possessions that suggest their status. This attention to interior detail as well as the meticulous delineation of figures are characteristic of Stanley’s painting style.

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