Gilbert Stuart, “Portrait of Mrs. Polly Hooper”

Art of Our Time: Selections by the Class of 1974 
May 4 – August 4, 2024
Gallery 1

Gilbert Stuart, Portrait of Mrs. Polly Hooper
1811, oil on panel, Purchase made possible by the Fine Arts Fund and Dr. and Mrs. Ben T. Bell (Dorothy L. Flinke ’26), 1961; 50th Annual Exhibition.
Collection of the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College.

When I entered Main Hall lobby for an admissions interview in 1969, the first thing I saw was this portrait above the fireplace on the left. It surprised me. I recognized its historic revolutionary-era style and that it was a work by a master artist. I was immediately impressed. I also thought Mrs. Polly was quite pretty. ~ Marguerite “Margie” Morris Dubay ’74