Design for the Washington Centennial Celebration, Souvenir

1889
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
This grisaille, painted in January and February of 1889, was used as the frontispiece for a souvenir booklet commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington. It shows the allegorical figure of Columbia with one hand resting on a pedestal that supports a bust of George Washington. In the lower left, a putto displays a placard inscribed with the years of the inauguration and its centennial. The work was commissioned by the Committee on Art and Exhibition, part of the Washington Centennial Celebration Committee. A similar design was prepared by Blashfield for the cover illustration of an issue of Harper's Weekly, a "Washington's Centennial Number" which appeared on May 4, 1889.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Design for the Washington Centennial Celebration, Souvenir
  • Artist: Edwin Howland Blashfield (American, New York 1848–1936)
  • Date: 1889
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas board
  • Dimensions: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1890
  • Object Number: 90.18.3
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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