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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Eleanor Roosevelt Portrait
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Eleanor Roosevelt Portrait

Artifact IDMO 1968.25.42
Object Type Painting
Maker
Mediumoil on paper mounted on canvas
Dimensionspainting H 18 in x W 12 in (45.7 cm x 30.5 cm )
 frame H 23 7/8 in x W 17 7/8 in x D 2 1/4 in (60.6 cm x 45.4 cm x 5.7 cm )
Physical DescriptionAn oil portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, age 4. It depicts her as a serious child holding up an admonishing finger. She is wearing a white dress with a wide pink sash and a pink hair ribbon. There is no artist's signature. The painting is in an ornate silver-tone 3 1/4" plaster and wood frame. On the reverse is a label with the framer's information for D. B. Butler & Co. of New York, NY, order # 19544-2.
Historical NoteThis portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt at age four appears to have been done from a studio photograph made on April 30, 1889. Eleanor’s father titled the image: "Little Nell scolding her brother Elliott." He had nicknamed his daughter "Little Nell" after the gentle character in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. This painting is on display in the ELEANOR ROOSEVELT exhibit in the Museum’s FOUNDATIONS OF A PUBLIC LIFE gallery.
Additional Details
Credit LineGift of Anna Roosevelt Halsted
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesPortraits (National Archives Identifier 778816)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
On view
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