The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Elizabeth Beltzhoover Mason
c. 1803–5
(American, 1755–1828)
Framed: 90 x 78 x 8 cm (35 7/16 x 30 11/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 73.8 x 61 cm (29 1/16 x 24 in.)
Gift from J. H. Wade 1921.428
Location: 204 Colonial American
Did You Know?
Stuart also painted a portrait of George Washington, now immortalized on the dollar bill.Description
The sitter’s high-waisted dress, pearl necklace, and elegant hairstyle of cascading ringlets reflect the height of fashion around 1800. Her gaze is assured: her chin is tilted upward but her eyes peer down with confidence. Mason’s husband was a prosperous lawyer, an influential figure in President Thomas Jefferson’s administration, and a plantation owner in Maryland. According to an inventory from 1807, the couple enslaved approximately 185 people, ranging from the newborn Abraham to 79-year-old Rachel. The family’s wealth afforded Mason the opportunity to be painted by Gilbert Stuart, a much sought-after portraitist.- 1921-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio1921(Frank W. Bayley, Boston, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)1899-1921Louisa Mason Terry [1844-1921], Washington, DC, consigned to Frank W. Bayley for sale11873-1899Margaret Augusta Cowan Mason [1821-1899], Hagerstown, MD, by descent to her daughter, Louisa Mason Terry11836-1873Judge John Thomson Mason, Jr. [1815-1873], Hagerstown, MD, by descent to his wife, Margaret Augusta Cowan Masonc. 1803/1805 - 1836Elizabeth Beltzhoover Mason [1781-1836] and John Thomson Mason [1765-1824], Montpelier, Clear Spring, MD, by descent to their son, Judge John Thomson Mason, Jr.Provenance Footnotes1 Sometimes referred to as Louise, Louisa Terry was married to Rear Admiral Silas Wright Terry [c. 1841-1911]. From 1909 until 1921, the painting was on loan to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC.2 1While not generally included in this painting’s provenance, George C. Mason’s The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart, published in 1879, situates the painting in the collection of “Mrs. J. Thompson [sic] Mason” at the time.
- Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. American Painting Before 1865: An Exhibition September 4th to 26th, 1937. Hagerstown, MD: The Museum,Park, Lawrence, John Hill Morgan, and Royal Cortissoz. Gilbert Stuart; An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works. New York: W.E. Rudge, 1926.Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. American Painting Before 1865: An Exhibition September 4th to 26th, 1937. Hagerstown, MD: The Museum, 1937.Park, Lawrence. “Portrait of Mrs. John Thomson Mason by Gilbert Stuart,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 19 (Dec. 1921): 154-155.Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1879.Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1879.Park, Lawrence, John Hill Morgan, and Royal Cortissoz. Gilbert Stuart; An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works. New York: W.E. Rudge, 1926.Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. American Painting Before 1865: An Exhibition September 4th to 26th, 1937. Hagerstown, MD: The Museum, 1937.Park, Lawrence. “Portrait of Mrs. John Thomson Mason by Gilbert Stuart,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 19 (Dec. 1921): 154-155Park, Lawrence, John Hill Morgan, and Royal Cortissoz. Gilbert Stuart; An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works. New York: W.E. Rudge, 1926.Park, Lawrence. “Portrait of Mrs. John Thomson Mason by Gilbert Stuart,” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 8, no. 19 (Dec. 1921): 154-15Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart: With Selections from Stuart's Portraits Reproduced on Steel and by Photogravure. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1894. Mentioned: p. 221Cleveland Museum of Art. "Portrait of Mrs. John Thomson Mason by Gilbert Stuart." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 10 (December 1921). Mentioned: p. 154-155; Reproduced: p. 163Cleveland Museum of Art. "Early American Art." The Cleveland Museum of Art Seventh Annual Report (1923). Reproduced: p. 52Dorr, Charles Henry. "The Real Gilbert Stuart." The Judd Magazines, Inc. 18, no. 1 (November 1922). Mentioned: p. 50; Reproduced: p. 35Whiting, Frederic Allen. "The Cleveland Museum of Art." Art and Archaeology 16, no. 4-5 (1923). Reproduced: 186Park, Lawrence, John Hill Morgan, and Royal Cortissoz. Gilbert Stuart: An Illustrated Descriptive List of His Works. New York: W.E. Rudge, 1926.Cleveland Museum of Art. "In Memoriam: Jeptha Homer Wade." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 13, no. 4 (April 1926). Reproduced: p. 91Cortissoz, Royal. "The Field of Art." Scribners (November 1926). Reproduced: p. 576"At the Art Museum." Bystander (Cleveland, OH), 1931. Mentioned; ReproducedMedford, Richard Carl. "The Fine Arts Exhibits of the National Antietam Commemoration." Bulletin of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts 3, no. 1 (September 1937). Mentioned: p. 4; Reproduced: cover"Finest Art in US Goes to Illinois Corn Belt for Big Small-Town Show." LIFE, March 1939. ReproducedCleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 528 archive.orgMount, Charles Merrill. Gilbert Stuart, A Biography. New York: W.W. Norton, 1964. Mentioned: p. 371Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.orgCleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.orgAdams, Celeste, Rita Myers, and Adele Z. Silver. An Introduction to American Art in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972. Mentioned: p. 3; ReproducedCleveland Museum of Art. "A Checklist: American Paintings and Water Colors of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Early Twentieth Centuries in the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art (January 1973). Reproduced: p. 34Mount, Charles Merrill. Gilbert Stuart in Washington: With a Catalogue of His Portraits Painted between December 1803 and July 1805. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society, 1973. Mentioned: p. 96; Reproduced: p. 98Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 199 archive.orgEvans, Dorinda. The Genius of Gilbert Stuart. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. Mentioned: p. 76; Reproduced: p. 76Barratt, Carrie Rebora, Gilbert Stuart, and Ellen Gross Miles. Gilbert Stuart. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. Mentioned: p. 260, 264-6; Reproduced: p. 265Adams, Henry. What's American About American Art?: A Gallery Tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. Mentioned: p. 9; Reproduced: p. 9|Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. Reproduced: p. 17 archive.org
- CMA @ Oberlin - American Portraits. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 29-December 17, 2006).Gilbert Stuart. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 18, 2004-January 16, 2005); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (March 27-July 31, 2005).35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951).The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).American Painting Before 1865. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (September 4-26, 1927).
- {{cite web|title=Elizabeth Beltzhoover Mason|url=false|author=Gilbert Stuart|year=c. 1803–5|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1921.428