Pastel (Portrait)

Description

A prolific artist, Bascom created more than 1,400 profile portraits during her extensive travels around New England with her husband Ezekiel, a Congregationalist minister. According to her diaries, she never considered herself a professional artist and often made profiles for her own pleasure or as gifts for family and friends. Her process involved using a candle or lamp to cast a shadow of the sitter’s head, tracing the outline, then filling in the details and the background with pencil and pastel. Ten years old at the time of this portrait, Henry and his sister Sarah (2024.0014.006.001) descended from a large Massachusetts family. He took over their father’s farm and remained a prominent local resident until his death in 1914, aged 83.