Jane E. Bartlett (American, active ca. 1872–1899). <em>Sarah Cowell LeMoyne</em>, 1877. Oil on canvas, 30 1/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76.4 x 56 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. A. Augustus Healy, 24.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 24.84_PS11.jpg)

Jane E. Bartlett (American, active ca. 1872–1899). Sarah Cowell LeMoyne, 1877. Oil on canvas, 30 1/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76.4 x 56 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. A. Augustus Healy, 24.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 24.84_PS11.jpg)

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The pose this woman takes in her portrait is amazing, especially considering the time at which it was painted. It's very daring!

Indeed, it was unusual for a woman to pose that way in the 1870s. You could easily contrast it with other images of women in that gallery like women looking off to the side, sitting quietly, looking as if they were waiting to be looked "at."

The sitter is an actress named Sarah Cowell. According to a book from 1908, she was a New Yorker who made her debut in a theater on Union Square in 1878 (a year after this painting was made). She also performed in England. She was especially known for performing works based on the writing of the poet Robert Browning. She was married to a man named William Lemoyne, and she continued to perform after she was married, also bold! A final interesting fact about this is that is was painted by a woman -- these were women with professional ambitions.

Sarah Cowell LeMoyne

Jane E. Bartlett

American Art

This startlingly direct portrait is the work of Jane E. Bartlett, one of the many female students of the leading late nineteenth-century Boston portraitist William Morris Hunt. Bartlett’s sitter was an aspiring young actress named Sarah Cowell, who would make her New York debut the following year. Cowell’s forward-leaning and unflinching regard were all but unheard of in female portraits of the period. Painter and sitter were clearly unconventional women distinguished by their professional ambition. Cowell probably sat for Bartlett as a willing model rather than as a patron; Bartlett owned the portrait when it was exhibited in 1880 under the title A Friend.

ARTIST Jane E. Bartlett, American, active ca. 1872–1899

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

DATES 1877

DIMENSIONS 30 1/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76.4 x 56 cm) frame: 34 1/16 × 26 × 2 5/16 in. (86.5 × 66 × 5.9 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Inscribed verso upper center: "J.E. Bartlett--1877"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 24.84

CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. A. Augustus Healy

PROVENANCE Prior to 1924, acquired from the artist by Mary Theodosia Currier of, Boston, MA; December 10, 1924, gift of Mary Theodosia Currier Healy (Mrs. A. Augustus Healy) of Cold Spring-on-Hudson to the Brooklyn Museum.

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EXHIBITIONS

American Identities: A New Look

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Jane E. Bartlett (American, active ca. 1872–1899). Sarah Cowell LeMoyne, 1877. Oil on canvas, 30 1/16 x 22 1/16 in. (76.4 x 56 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. A. Augustus Healy, 24.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 24.84_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 24.84_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022

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RIGHTS STATEMENT No known copyright restrictions

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

The pose this woman takes in her portrait is amazing, especially considering the time at which it was painted. It's very daring!