# Anonymous Woman

**Unknown artist**  
c. 1830  
oil on wood  
overall: 46.8 x 36.1 cm (18 7/16 x 14 3/16 in.) framed: 59 x 48.4 x 3 cm (23 1/4 x 19 1/16 x 1 3/16 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953.5.85. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.42488.html).

## About this work

An unrecorded American artist painted this in about 1830. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

The image shows a woman standing upright with a small red book in her right hand. She has a fair complexion, neutral expression, slightly arched eyebrows, and small, rounded lips. Her dark brown hair is styled in an updo with a black accessory. She wears a high-necked dark dress with puffed sleeves and a white collar. The background is plain blue. The woman is not wearing any visible jewelry, and the setting is minimalistic with only the book present.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: American
- Real size: about 18 × 14 in (47 × 36 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Romanticism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/romanticism)
- Subjects: female
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1502.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1502/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/anonymous-woman-nga-42488).