The Lady in Pink & the Lady in Black
Have you ever seen the 1888 portraits of "Lady in Pink" or the "Lady in Black"? They were painted in 1888 by American Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase.


Chase's model for these paintings was a young New York socialite, named Marietta "Pansy" (Benedict) Cotton (1868-1947). Marietta studied with Chase, and in her own right she became a successful society portraitist in New York and London. Chase later recalled the time he first met Marietta, "One morning, a young lady came into my Tenth Street studio... She came as a pupil but the moment she appeared before me I saw her only as a splendid model... Such a model is a treasure find. It is the personality that inspires, and which you depict on canvas."
Why is this being shared on the website of the 18th New York Infantry you might ask? Well, Marietta was the niece of Colonel William Ayrault Jackson.

The paintings hang at the Met in New York City.
Comments