Moses B. Russell: Yankee miniaturist

Magazine Antiques, Nov, 2002 by Randall L. Holton, Charles A. Gilday

Mr. Russell, the talented miniature painter in School street, has executed an admirable full length portrait on ivory, of the Indian chief Soo-nong-gise.... The old warrior went to Mr. Russell's room in full war-dress, and the artist painted his likeness with an astonishing accuracy--giving the minutest decorations of his person, with a truthfulness rarely excelled. The painting is also highly finished, and in this respect alone is an admirable specimen of Mr. Russell's art. We understand that this picture has been purchased by the enterprising proprietor of the Boston Museum, and it will doubtless be placed among his splendid collection of paintings for exhibition.

In his lively rendering Russell relies on detail and color to give Soo-nong-gise the same dynamic presence on the ivory that he had on stage. The drop earrings, tomahawk, knife and scabbard, and bow and arrows vie for the viewer's attention with the striking claret color of the headdress, which matches both the fringe of the frock coat and one of the shoulder sashes. The patterned tunic, consisting of purple, blue, white, and pink, neatly echoes the melange of background colors, thereby uniting subject with space and further confirming the artist's love of color.

Boston miniaturists of the 1830s and 1840s tended toward dark or monochromatic backgrounds, (26) so Russell's blended, multicolored treatments were considered unusual and prompted one contemporary commentator to remark on his "peculiar style of coloring pictures." (27) Most of his subjects were adults, so his use of color is by necessity restrained, lest the dignity of the sitter be compromised. It is not surprising, then, that we see his most impassioned use of color in his likenesses of children. Children were, of course, the special artistic province of his wife and, though Moses Russell rarely achieved the transcendent quality that infuses Mrs. Russell's portraits, their shared studio at 21 School Street produced stylistic similarities and differences. For instance, her preoccupation with patterned dresses is also evident in his portraits Boy in Raspberry Dress (P1. XII) and Mrs. Otis C. Norcross and Son Otis (P1. I). While Mrs. Russell had a consistently recognizable style over time, Moses Russell's like nesses of children are surprisingly dissimilar from one another in both execution and coloring, possibly reflecting an unease with young sitters.

One of Russell's most colorful and endearing miniatures is the locket portrait of Emma P. Pickering (P1. XI). Little Emma, daughter of Boston car builder Washington Pickering, died at the age of five months in 1846. Although executed as a memorial, the portrait depicts the infant as very much alive, animated in large part by the riot of bright color that envelops her, from the green-checkered dress and coral necklace to the piercing blue and peach background. Her oversized, innocent eyes speak to the viewer and suggest her continuing presence, confirming the belief that her passing "was but the mortal breath suspended and the spiritual inspiration begun." (28)