Getty Museum

[Mrs. Rigby]

Date

1843–1848

Medium

Salted paper print from a paper negative

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

> Mrs. Anne Rigby (1777-1872) moved to Edinburgh from Norfolk, England, in 1842, accompanied by her daughters Matilda (1815-date unknown) and [Elizabeth](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/39804/hill-adamson-miss-elizabeth-rigby-1844-1845/) (1809-93). Described by one relative as "a bright, clever, energetic woman," Mrs. Rigby "was a strict disciplinarian as to punctuality" who "never allowed her children to have 'nerves.'" The severity of this portrait, taken in three-quarter by Hill and Adamson (David Octavius Hill [1802-70] and Robert Adamson [1821-48]), emphasizes her strong character. The white, lace pelerine is contrasted with the dark dress, whose leaf pattern echoes the blurred foliage in the background. > > [Another photograph from this series](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/34819/hill-adamson-mrs-anne-rigby-nee-anne-palgrave-scottish-1843-1846/) anticipates and may even have influenced the iconic painting [*Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother*](https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=000974&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=%2Fen%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fnotice.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26nnumid%3D974) (1871; Musée d'Orsay) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). The American expatriate visited Edinburgh in July 1849 and, having connections with both [Sir William Allan](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/55380/hill-adamson-sir-william-allan-november-1843/) (1782-1850) and the Rigbys, may have had the opportunity to view Hill and Adamson's calotypes. It is known that in May 1893, more than twenty years after the completion of the painting, the Secessionist photographer James Craig Annan (1864-1946) sent copies of some of Hill and Adamson's pictures to Whistler, who was dutifully impressed with their work. (See other portraits of Mrs. Rigby: [84.XO.734.4.3.4](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99304/hill-adamson-mrs-rigby-1843-1847/), [84.XO.734.4.3.5](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99305/hill-adamson-mrs-rigby-1843-1848/) and [84.XO.608.4](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/99107/hill-adamson-mrs-anne-palgrave-rigby-1843-1846/)). > > Adapted from Anne M. Lyden. *Hill and Adamson*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1999), 52. ©1999, J. Paul Getty Museum.

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