Colonial Dame,

ca. 1790

Social and cultural obstacles have historically prevented women from succeeding in the arts. As a result, female artists are rare in narratives of early American art—due not to lack of ability, but because they were not granted the same access to training and opportunities for advancement as men. Perkins’s sensitive and accomplished portraiture was initially facilitated by the social prominence of her well-educated Connecticut family. Yet she stopped painting in her mid-twenties, when the demands of domestic life intervened. The portrait of Reverend Cummins by Sarah Miriam Peale was until recently attributed to her cousin, Rembrandt. Despite favorable comparisons, as the misattribution suggests, Sarah remains less known due to the persistence of prejudicial attitudes about gender and artistic acumen.