(1788-1865) Connecticut-born portrait painter Ammi Phillips was forgotten until historians and collectors reconstructed his oeuvre in the mid 20th Century. Very few of the portraits are signed, however, one portrait noted that “George C. Sunderland Painted When at the Age of 21 years by Mr, Ammi, Phillips, In the fall 1840” and helped historians piece together the artist’s works. Working primarily in rural Western Massachusetts, Phillips advertised his talent for painting “correct likenesses,” distinguished by “perfect shadows and elegantly dressed in the prevailing fashions of the day.” The artist’s most famous work, Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog, is in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum and was featured on a postage stamp in 1998.
Urban Art & Antiques 