Delia Spencer Caton Field
Object Details
- Artist
- George Peter Alexander Healy, 15 Jul 1813 - 24 Jun 1894
- Sitter
- Delia Spencer Caton Field, c.1853 - 1937
- Exhibition Label
- Born Chicago, Illinois
- Delia Spencer Caton Field was a prominent art collector, philanthropist, and leader in the grassroots Pure Foods Movement. By raising awareness of unsanitary and unsafe food production, she and other women inspired the 1906 U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act, which prohibited “adulterated and misbranded food and drugs.” In 1907, as chair of the Civic Health Association in Chicago, she led an effort to stop the “adulteration” of milk with chemical preservatives and additives.
- Chicago lawyer Arthur J. Caton commissioned George Peter Alexander Healy to paint this portrait of his wife in Paris while the young couple were on their honeymoon. After Caton’s death in 1904, she married retailer Marshall Field. Widowed a second time in 1906, she resided primarily in Washington, D.C., from 1912 until her death. There, she entertained the political and social elite in her mansion, known as the Pink Palace, on 16th Street, NW.
- Nacida en Chicago, Illinois
- Delia Spencer Caton Field fue una destacada coleccionista de arte, filántropa y líder de un movimiento popular a favor de la pureza de los alimentos. Creando conciencia sobre las condiciones insalubres y peligrosas de la producción de alimentos, ella y otras mujeres inspiraron la Ley de Pureza de Alimentos y Medicamentos de 1906, que prohibió los “alimentos y medicamentos adulterados y mal rotulados”. En 1907, a la cabeza de la Asociación Cívica de Salud en Chicago, dirigió esfuerzos para detener la “adulteración” de la leche con preservantes y aditivos que ocultaban su descomposición.
- Arthur J. Caton, abogado de Chicago, encargó a George Peter Alexander Healy este retrato de su esposa durante su luna de miel en París. Tras la muerte de Caton en 1904, Delia se casó con el comerciante Marshall Field. En 1906 quedó viuda de nuevo y residió mayormente en Washington D.C. desde 1912 hasta su muerte. Allí recibía a la élite política y social en su mansión, conocida como el Palacio Rosa, en la Calle 16 Noroeste.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Albert and Maddy Beveridge
- 1876
- Object number
- NPG.2020.145
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher (estimate): 121.9 × 91.4 cm (48 × 36")
- Frame: 145.4 × 110.5 cm (57 1/4 × 43 1/2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 133
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Jewelry
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Flower
- Exterior\Architecture
- Architecture\Column
- Delia Spencer Caton Field: Female
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2020.145
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b6cb3aa8-10f7-4763-8001-6f37e0a650c2
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