Faces of Vermont:
Portraits from the Collection of the Vermont Historical Society

Portraits are created for many reasons - as keepsakes of a loved one separated by distance or death, as a memento of an important life event, to preserve the image of an important person for future generations, or for pure vanity. Their historical value has always been important because frequently a portrait is the only image that survives of a particular person. In our increasingly visual world, the ability to put a face with a name is invaluable when an individual's story is being told.

This online exhibit is just a sample from the more than forty portraits shown at the Helen Day Art Center during the first three months of 2002. Featuring works from the late 18th to the mid-20th centuries, the exhibit included oil paintings, silhouettes, early photographs, a marble bust, and more. Prominent Vermonters such as senator Justin Morrill and William Jarvis were featured alongside lesser known, but equally fascinating, figures like "'Sleeping' Lucy Cooke", a 19th century spiritualist and healer.

       Explore Faces of Vermont:

           Chippenhook Family Group
           The Warren Family
           Rena Guernsey
           Daniel Piercce Thompson
           Lucy Ainsworth Cooke
           The Whipples
           Private William Scott
           William Czar Bradley

           Visit the Helen Day Arts Center Online
 

This exhibit is no longer on view. Contact the Vermont Historical Society Museum for information about portraits in the collections of the VHS.       

Thank you to the Sponsors for "Faces of Vermont":

        Vermont Council on Humanities (grant from National Endowment for the Humanities)
        The Walter Cerf Fund
        The Oakland Foundation
        The Vermont Community Foundation
        James Trihy & Carol Decker Trihy
        The William T & Marie J. Henderson Foundation
        Bourne's, Inc.
        Sundown Corp.
        John and Virginia Wood
        Concept II
        Harwood Moses Chambers
        Harry and Carol Bonyun
        New England Culinary Institute
        Casella Waste Management
        Anonymous