About the Artwork
In January 1735, Scottish-born artist John Smibert recorded this portrait of “Mrs. Pitts” in his account book. “Mrs. Pitts” was Elizabeth Lindall Pitts (1680 – 1763), mother-in law to Elizabeth Bowdoin Pitts (1717 – 1771), whose portrait Smibert also painted that month (also in the Detroit Institute of Arts). This likeness shows the formidable and wealthy widow sitting erect in a silk-upholstered armchair.
The artist’s annotations in his account book indicate that he required “HP,” half payment of his nine-Guinea fee, before painting this portrait in the Kit-Cat format. Kit-Cat portraits show the subject’s face, torso, and hands, depicting more than a traditional half-length portrait. This style takes its name from the format of early eighteenth-century portraits showing politicians, writers, thinkers, and artists who were members of the political Kit-Cat Club in London.
Mrs. John Pitts
1735
John Smibert
1688-1751
American
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Oil on canvas
Unframed: 36 1/8 × 28 3/4 inches (91.8 × 73 cm) Framed: 42 3/4 × 34 7/16 × 2 1/8 inches (108.6 × 87.5 × 5.4 cm)
Paintings
American Art before 1950
Founders Society Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund
58.353
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
S. Lendall Pitts (Paris, France);by 1949, Mrs. S. Lendall Pitts (Norfolk, Virginia, USA).
on loan to Mrs. Arthur Maxwell Parker (Helen Strong Pitts) (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA).
1958-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
[Smibert’s Obituary]. Boston News Letter (April 4, 1751).
[Smibert’s Obituary]. Boston Gazette (April 9, 1751).
Goodwin, D. Memorial of the Life and Services of James Pitts and his Sons. Chicago, 1881, p. 33.
Goodwin, D. Provincial Pictures by Brush and Pen. Chicago, 1886, pp. 7, 14 (ill.).
New England Historical and Genealogical Register 7, (1928) p. 15.
A Loan Exhibition of Colonial and Early Federal Art. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1930, no. 80.
Foote, H. John Smibert. Cambridge, 1950, pp. 160, 166, 184.
Painting in America: The Story of 450 Years. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1957, no. 15.
Eight Generations of the Pitts Family. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1959, pp. 14-15 (ill.).
Payne, Elizabeth. “Pitts Family Portraits of the 18th Century.” Antiques 77, (January 1960): pp. 87-89.
The Notebook of John Smibert. Boston, 1969, p. 93.
Saunders, R. The Collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts American Paintings, Vol. 1. Detroit, 1987.
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Credit Line for Reproduction
John Smibert, Mrs. John Pitts, 1735, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Gibbs-Williams Fund, 58.353.
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