Portrait of Wilhelmina Wilser1850–186013 1/2 x 11 " (34.3 x 27.9 cm)
Frame: 19 x 16 3/8 x 2 " (48.3 x 41.6 x 5.1 cm)Oil on canvas, gold-leaf on wood frame
Gift of Dick Button2018.4.10Portrait of a woman wearing a pink silk dress sitting at a pianoforte with sheet music for the Italian opera Norma. This was written by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani and was first performed in Venice in 1831. Its inaugural American performance took place in New Orleans in 1833. Based upon the dress and hair styles, the portrait may have been painted around the time of her marriage in 18571567086758Artist unidentifiedPaintingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain. United StatesConnecticutPaintingsObject information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgThe subject of this portrait is the great-grandmother of Dick Button, the Olympic ice skater. Wilhelmina “Minnie” Schemel (Schimmel) was born in Württemberg, Baden Germany in 1838. It is not known when she came to the United States but she was living in Connecticut by 1857, the year she married August Wilser (1830–1910), a shoemaker. The couple had two children. Their daughter, also named Wilhelmina, married Charles Edward Button, a shoemaker, in 1880; their son George was Dick Button’s father. Wilhelmina Wilser died in 1924 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan. In her portrait by an unknown artist Wilhelmina wears a beautiful pink silk dress and sits at a pianoforte with sheet music for the Italian opera Norma. This was written by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani and was first performed in Venice in 1831. Its inaugural American performance took place in New Orleans in 1833. Based upon the dress and hair styles, the portrait may have been painted around the time of her marriage.18501860 2018 4 1 Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgThe subject of this portrait is the great-grandmother of Dick Button, the Olympic ice skater. Wilhelmina “Minnie” Schemel (Schimmel) was born in Württemberg, Baden Germany in 1838. It is not known when she came to the United States but she was living in Connecticut by 1857, the year she married August Wilser (1830–1910), a shoemaker. The couple had two children. Their daughter, also named Wilhelmina, married Charles Edward Button, a shoemaker, in 1880; their son George was Dick Button’s father. Wilhelmina Wilser died in 1924 and is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan. In her portrait by an unknown artist Wilhelmina wears a beautiful pink silk dress and sits at a pianoforte with sheet music for the Italian opera Norma. This was written by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani and was first performed in Venice in 1831. Its inaugural American performance took place in New Orleans in 1833. Based upon the dress and hair styles, the portrait may have been painted around the time of her marriage.