Jennie Byrd Bryan (Primary Title)
George P. A. Healy, American, 1813 - 1894 (Artist)
Acclaimed mid-century portraitist George Healy was personally acquainted with the sitter, Jennie Byrd Bryan, a student of his in Chicago. Healy had painted her as a child, but here she sits at an easel, portraying him. In the background, a large harp resembles one known to have been in the Healy residence. The combination of art and music suggests the artistic “accomplishments” that were an important part of a young woman’s education at this time. Bryan later married John Barton Payne, VMFA’s founding patron, whose 1919 gift of art to the Commonwealth formed the core of the museum’s collection. This painting was one of nine by Healy included in that gift.
Upper right: "GPA Healy 1874"
Gift of John Barton Payne
"Healy's Sitters" Virgina Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (24 January - 5 March, 1950) no. 16.
O’Leary, Elizabeth L., Sylvia Yount, Susan Jensen Rawles, and David Park Curry. American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Charlottesville: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with the University of Virginia Press, 2010. (Fig. 3, p. 2).
De Mare, Marie. G. P. A. Healy, American Artist. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1954. (illus., p. 30).
Healy’s Sitters, a Comprehensive Collection. Richmond, Va: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1950. Exhibition catalog. (No. 16, p.17; 78-79).
Catalogue of the Paintings in the John Barton Payne Collection Given in Memory of his Wife and Mother to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1921. (No. 25, p. 19; [illus. also used as title page art]).
Hooper, Lucy H., “Exhibition in Paris,” and “The Salon of 1875. First Paper,” The Art Journal (1875-1887), New Series 1 (1875): 121-122; and 188-190.
De Mare, Marie. G. P. A. Healy, American Artist. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1954. (illus., p. 30).
Healy’s Sitters, a Comprehensive Collection. Richmond, Va: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1950. Exhibition catalog. (No. 16, p.17; 78-79).
Catalogue of the Paintings in the John Barton Payne Collection Given in Memory of his Wife and Mother to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1921. (No. 25, p. 19; [illus. also used as title page art]).
Hooper, Lucy H., “Exhibition in Paris,” and “The Salon of 1875. First Paper,” The Art Journal (1875-1887), New Series 1 (1875): 121-122; and 188-190.
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