Collected Portraits

What inspires people to collect portraits of individuals who are not their ancestors? Conversations with Washington-area collectors reveal that their primary motivation for acquiring a portrait is their admiration for its artistic merit. But secondary reasons can often reinforce this initial impulse.

The desire to save a work referencing early Washington history may have played a role in the acquisition of Charles Bird King’s portrait of Sarah Weston Seaton and Augustine and Julia Seaton, wife and children of the publisher of the Washington Intelligencer.

Likewise, by preserving as a group the paintings and sculptures in the Barnett Aden collection, the owner preserved a monument to both the history of African American art and its Washington legacy. Undoubtedly the owner of the sculpture of the Marquis de Lafayette, while admiring the skill of the artist, was pleased that this esteemed Frenchman had played such a major role in shaping American history.

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