The Seer
Kendall began painting pictures depicting the popular theme of a mother and child around 1900, shortly after the birth of his first daughter. These works were less portraits than evocations of domestic intimacy. In this case, the title "The Seer" endows the child with visionary powers and implies the purity and innocence of childhood experience. The identification of the sitter as the artist's second daughter Beatrice can be postulated based on a very similar work entitled "Beatrice" (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). Both pictures were copyrighted on March 1, 1906. Later that same week, both pictures were exhibited in the annual exhibition of the Society of American Artists.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Seer
- Artist: William Sergeant Kendall (American, Spuyten Duyvil, New York 1869–1938 Hot Springs, Virginia)
- Date: 1906
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 37 × 31 in. (94 × 78.7 cm)
Framed: 51 in. × 44 1/8 in. × 5 7/8 in. (129.5 × 112 × 15 cm) - Credit Line: George A. Hearn Fund, 1906
- Object Number: 06.1219
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
More Artwork
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.