New Portrait of Emily Dickinson

"Cuéllar used all three local Dickinson institutions to research his Emily Dickinson oil portrait. In addition to using local resources, Cuéllar traveled to museums and consulted historians of the nineteenth century to research every aspect of the elements captured by the photograph: the hair, skin, dress, jewelry, and even the original photographer's props, such as the tablecloth and waxed orange blossom flowers.

Cuéllar's goal with his portrait was to render the poet in her true colors: "Most people have a color-blind image of Emily Dickinson since there was only one daguerreotype that portrays the poet in varying shades of gray. For example, I did not know that she was a redhead." He made the painting "as if I were a portrait artist living in the 1840s." He was intrigued by her age in the daguerreotype, a teenager, and wanted to show "not only who she was, but also who she was becoming."

New Portrait of Emily Dickinson
Jones Library

[Thanks Joy]