Hall, Ann Connecticut (1792-1863) PORTRAIT OF YOUNG LADY watercolor on ivory, in red leather case inscribed: on verso, A Copy of Douglas's Painting, by Ann Hall, Pomfret, 19th Septb 1821 H3 3/4" W3 1/8" *Provenance: Descended in the family line of famed Charleston portrait miniaturist Charles Fraser. *Artist biography: A greatly respected painter of delicate miniature portraits as well as florals, she was the first and only woman to become a full member of the National Academy in New York before 1900. Today her work would likely be regarded as too sentimental and sweetly religious, but she was much sought-after for commissions by members of New York society. She was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, and her precocious artistic talents were encouraged by her cultured father, a physician. During a visit to Newport, Rhode Island, she learned the technique of painting miniatures on ivory from Samuel King, Gilbert Stuart's teacher. In New York, she studied oil painting with Alexander Robertson, one of the earliest art teachers in America. By 1817, she was exhibiting miniatures at the newly formed American Academy of Fine Arts and was elected to Associate membership in the mid-1820s and Full Academician membership in 1833. However, knowing her station as a "lady," she never appeared at the meetings except once, when she was requested there to make a quorum. She exhibited miniatures continually in its annual exhibitions from 1828 to 1852, and one of her pieces of a captive Greek girl was reproduced into an engraving. Her brother, a prominent businessman, sent her paintings from Europe to copy, and what was later described as her "old master" techniques resulted from these influences. She never married and lived with her sister and brother-in-law, dying at the age of seventy-two.