George Peter Alexander Healy

Healy was the best known American portraitist in Paris in 1867. He was a close friend of leading French painter Thomas Couture and a contributor to the fine arts sections of an unbroken succession of 19th-century Universal Expositions. His subjects included European statesmen and women of high breeding, such as Miss Sneyde, portrayed here. According to Healy's biography, Miss Sneyde's hopes of serving as a lady-in-waiting in the court of Napoleon III were dashed by the Empress Eugenie, who distrusted her husband's appreciation for fair young Englishwomen. Americans also sought out Healy when they arrived in Paris, either to commission portraits or to ask his advice about improving their own artistic skills.

Healy often returned to America, and he visited Providence and Newport in the 1840s and 1850s to paint portraits of distinguished individuals. Although there are works by his contemporaries in the Museum's collection, there were no paintings by Healy prior to this gift from his great-grandson.