Miss Van Alen
Historical Context
The Gansevoort Limner's portrait of Miss Van Alen from around 1735 represents the early Dutch-American portrait tradition of the Hudson Valley, where descendants of Dutch settlers maintained cultural connections to their European heritage. The Gansevoort Limner, possibly identifiable as Pieter Vanderlyn, produced portraits of the Dutch colonial elite in the region around Albany, New York, in a style that combined Dutch conventions with colonial directness.
Technical Analysis
The oil-on-canvas portrait demonstrates the characteristic style of the Gansevoort Limner with flat, decorative treatment of costume and a direct, unidealized approach to the sitter's features. The bright colors and patterned fabrics reflect the Dutch-American colonial portrait tradition.
Provenance
Recorded as from Kinderhook, New York.[1] Mr. Van Tassel, Muitzeskill, Rensselaer County, New York. (Edith Gregor Halpert, The Downtown Gallery, New York, 1932-1947), by whom sold in 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1956. [1] The pamphlet accompanying the 1933 Downtown Gallery exhibition _American Ancestors_ states that this portrait was found in Kinderhook, New York. Downtown Gallery records on microfilm at the Archives of American Art indicate, however, that the portrait was purchased in Ridgefield, Connecticut. They record that the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center [Williamsburg, Virginia] _Miss Van Alen_ was found in Ridgefield but "purchased formerly by H. in Kinderhook, New York, where the family resided." Mrs. Holger Cahill, the former owner of the AARFAC portrait, thinks both portraits were bought in Kinderhook by Edith Halpert of the Downtown Gallery from descendants of the Van Alen family, or a dealer in the area (letter of 31 June 1974 to Barbara Luck, curator, AARFAC, copy in NGA curatorial files).
