작품 상세

Benjamin Franklin Reinhart (American/Pennsylvania, 1829-1885, act. New Orleans, 1859-1862), "Two Sisters and a Cat", 1873, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, 30 in. x 25 in., framed. Note: An accomplished portrait, genre, and history painter, Benjamin Franklin Reinhart established a studio in New Orleans in 1859. While in the city, he painted the portraits of many prominent citizens, including Senator John Slidell and General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, whose portrait sold at Neal Auction Company for $39,600.00 in 2000. Although he spent the majority of the years of the Civil War in London, Reinhart was nonetheless a supporter of the cause, and a Confederate military company was named in Reinhart’s honor. After the war ended, Reinhart moved back to the United States, making his home in Kentucky, New York, and Pennsylvania over the last two decades of his life. In the lot offered here, two sisters of an affluent family are depicted in their matching finery with a cat, in keeping with a tradition in 19th century portraiture of children to include their pets.