# Mrs. Albert J. Myer (Catherine Walden)

**George Peter Alexander Healy** (born Boston, MA 1813-died Chicago, IL 1894)  
1876  
oil on canvas  
30 1/8 x 25 1/8 in. (76.4 x 63.7 cm)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1934.6.2. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=10165).

## About this work

Catherine Walden was the wife of General Albert J. Myer, who established the Army Signal Corps during the Civil War. In this lively portrait, George Healy shows Mrs. Myer with a twinkle in her eye and a knowing grin. She exudes a warm personality that was likely a comfort to the politicians and top military officers she met during her husband’s service in the Civil War. Healy lived in Paris from 1872 to 1892, and made about thirty trips to America for portrait commissions.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

George Peter Alexander Healy painted this in 1876, aged 63. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **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.

### [George Peter Alexander Healy](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/george-peter-alexander-healy)

born Boston, MA 1813-died Chicago, IL 1894

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 63
- Real size: about 30 × 25 in (76 × 64 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 16 × 20 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Women, Portraits
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1889.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1889/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3

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/mrs-albert-j-myer-catherine-walden-si-saam-1934-6-2).