1. Category:
  2. Fine Art (2,667)

Young Mary Todd

Creator:
Katherine Helm
Location:
unknown place made
Origin Date:
1925
Materials:
pastel, board
Measurements:
overall: 34 1/2 in x 29 1/2 in
Item ID:
71.2009.081.0453
Holding Institution:
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
Available for Viewing:
No
Category:
Fine Art

Description

This painting is based upon a daguerreotype and depicts a young Mary Todd. She sits in three-quarter profile and wears a white or champagne-colored dress with a low-cut lace neckline. Her light brown hair is parted down the center and worn in curls; a yellow flower is tucked behind her ear. The artist was Mary Todd Lincoln's niece. A talented artist and author, Katherine Helm was a daughter of Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm and Emilie Todd Helm, a half-sister to Mary Todd Lincoln and the President's favorite in-law. Katherine's portrait of Mrs. Lincoln, one of six painted by her, hangs in the White House. She maintained a studio in New York for a number of years, but from 1912 until her death she lived and painted at Helm Place on Bowman's Mill Road in Lexington, Kentucky. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum.