According to the Tate’s website a portrait is a “representation of a particular person.” A lot of other websites I looked at, such as wikipedia, had more nuanced definitions of a portrait. Some stated that it could only include the head and shoulder and some necessitated the conveying of feeling and emotions. The reason that I like the Tate’s; however, because I think its basic-ness allows it to encompass a wide range of portraits.

This portrait is of Alison Peake Henning the wife of a Saybrook Master who served from 1946 to 1975. While in college Henning created the Smithenpoofs and while at Yale became an honorary member of the Wiffenpoofs and glee club. After leaving Yale, the couple received the Yale medal. This portrait hangs in Saybrook’s dining hall. Like all the portraits it hangs very high up, close to the ceiling, and I would guess it to be roughly 2 1/2 by 2 feet (?).Given how high they are all hung, I feel like the portraits are there because it is customary to do so and not because they actually care about people looking at them. Behind Henning are the Saybrook colors blue and yellow broad visible brushstrokes while she is painted very realistically.

I find this painting to be odd mostly because of her outfit. She looks like she is either going to a opera or a funeral. With that said, this is definitely one of the better Saybrook portraits. Most of them are really dark, but here the blue and yellow really help lighten up the mood of her portrait.