Elizabeth Shoumatoff
Elizabeth Shoumatoff (October 6, 1888 – November 30, 1980) was an American painter who was best known for painting the Unfinished Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Other paintings included Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson.[1]
Early life
Shoumatoff was born into an aristocratic family in Russia. Her brother Andrey Avinoff was a prominent entomologist and artist. Elizabeth Shoumatoff emigrated to the United States in 1917,[1] and eventually made her home on Long Island.
Career
Her extraordinary talent for portraiture brought commissions from some of the most illustrious families in America, Great Britain and Europe. Her clients included members of the Frick, du Pont, Mellon, Woodruff and Firestone families,[1] plus the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sitting for her at Warm Springs, Georgia, when he suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945.[2] When she was working, he said "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head."[3]
Death and legacy
She died in November 1980 at age 92 and her estate donated some of the sketches related to the Unfinished Portrait to the Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center Museum.[4] Some of her other works and materials from the latter part of her life are now in the Archives of American Art.[5]
References
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