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Mary Mills

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@ National Portrait Gallery

Description

The Harmon Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City and active from (1922-1967) included this portrait in their exhibition “Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origins” which documented noteworthy African Americans’ contributions to the country. Modeling their goal of social equality, the Harmon sought portraits from an African-American artist, Laura Wheeler Waring and Euro-American artist, Betsy Graves Reyneau. The two painters followed the conventional codes of academic portraiture, seeking to convey their sitters extraordinary accomplishments. This painting, along with a variety of educational materials, toured nation-wide for ten years serving as a visual rebuttal to racism.
Type:
Image
Format:
Oil On Canvas
Rights:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Harmon Foundation
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Record Contributed By

National Portrait Gallery

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution