Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes Standing, Studies of Arm and Hands

Daniel Huntington's preparatory sketch captures Lucy Webb Hayes in a formal seated pose with particular attention to the articulation of her hands and arms. The artist's fluid linework and multiple studies on a single sheet reveal the working method of academic portraiture in the late nineteenth century. Huntington, a prominent American painter and president of the National Academy of Design, used such detailed studies to develop the monumental formal portraits that defined his career and secured his position among the nation's leading society portraitists of the Gilded Age.