Diana and Lysander (Abigail Adams after Raphael Peale)
Katherine Steichen Rosing
Acrylic on wood panel
$500
Artist Statement
Abigail Adams was an independent and intellectual thinker, and a strong-willed woman who used humor keenly to modulate her arguments. She would be considered so even by today’s standards, and I thought of Hilary Clinton as I read her biography (by Woody Holton-I highly recommend!). She was the first Second Lady, and the Second First lady of the United States, and also mother of a president. She was a keen observer of politics, with strong opinions and frequently advised her husband John on political matters, even occasionally stepping over boundaries to promote opportunities for her sons—whether they liked it or not—usually not.
John and Abigail Adams had a deep and loving relationship documented through extensive correspondence during the many years John lived and worked away from home. While he lived in Philadelphia during the continental congress, and later as a diplomat in Europe Abigail ran the household, farm, and sometimes his law practice.
Diana and Lysander, the title of my portrait refers to the pet names Abigail and John used in their correspondence over the decades. Using complementary colors, I wanted Abigail’s brilliance to radiate outward from a silhouette based on a hollow cut paper portrait by Raphael Peale in 1804. The spiraling block text reveals some of her writings and beliefs, while the more hidden inscriptions embed portions of her letters to John.
Although she could be classist, she and John were both adamantly opposed to slavery and hired Black servants to work in their home and property. She was the daughter of a moderate minister, an advocate for the education, particularly of girls. In at least one instance, Abigail made a strong and successful argument on behalf of one of her young Black male servants for his right to attend to a local night school who was originally refused admittance based on race.
I was surprised to learn that her famous admonition to her spouse, John Adams to “remember the ladies,” referred to the physical abuse of women. Husbands not only had complete financial control, but had the right to physically abuse their wives, and Abigail was advocating for protection of women. “Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
She was a shrewd businesswoman, placing orders with John for European goods during the years he was stationed there early in his government career and reselling at home. Abigail supplemented John’s modest income with her import business later used her “pin money” for investments to build her own wealth (mostly unknown to her husband) by investing in bonds and property through an uncle. As a strong proponent of women’s property rights, she left her substantial inheritance almost entirely to women with small tokens to her sons despite the laws that married women were not allowed to own property.
During our year+ of Covid, it was fascinating to read that a small pox epidemic broke out in Boston shortly after Abigail and John were married. A vaccination of sorts was available thanks to an enslaved African man who remembered that in his home village they would make a cut in an arm and insert cow pox to create immunity. The procedure was dicey but the risk from small pox outweighed the vaccine, so John was vaccinated first and sometime later Abigail was vaccinated.
About the Artist
Katherine Steichen Rosing explores environmental and climate issues relating to forest ecosystems through her work which includes vividly-hued paintings, intricate mixed media works, and immersive installations. Rosing's paintings and drawings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Tokyo, and Beijing. Her works are included in collections internationally including the State of Wisconsin Collection, Northwestern Mutual, and the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics; she is the recipient of numerous grants and awards.
Rosing served as curator and Vice President of ARC Gallery/Educational Foundation in Chicago, and represented ARC and the Women’s Caucus for Art at the UN/NGO 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing. A long-time arts educator, Rosing taught college art courses in the Chicago area and in Madison, Wisconsin where she lives and maintains her studio. Rosing earned a BFA from the University of Colorado-Denver and holds an MFA in painting and drawing from Northern Illinois University.