Roma Johnson Wornall
Alternate TitleMrs. John Bristow Wornall
Artist
George Caleb Bingham
(American, 1811 - 1879)
Dateca. 1867-1874
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 27 x 22 1/4 inches (68.58 x 56.52 cm)
Framed: 36 5/8 x 31 3/4 x 4 3/8 inches (93.03 x 80.65 x 11.11 cm)
Framed: 36 5/8 x 31 3/4 x 4 3/8 inches (93.03 x 80.65 x 11.11 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Roma Wornall Powell, granddaughter of the sitter, Roma Wornall
Object numberF85-1
SignedNone.
InscribedNone.
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionBust portrait of young woman in three-quarter view against clouds and blue-green sky. Dark locks pulled back in "waterfall curls." Burnt-orange dress with lace collar and trim.Gallery LabelSixteen-year-old Roma Johnson married 40-year old John Wornall in 1866 after his second wife, Roma's cousin Eliza, died. Roma lived much of her adult life at the Wornall House, which still stands in Kansas City.
Bingham rarely painted portraits in profile, but a photograph of Mrs. Wornall, taken in a favorite dress from her trousseau, served as the model for this canvas. The pose recalls the then-popular Grecian-style profile, so named after its resemblance to Antique sculpture. Bingham surely was aware that a painting had to surpass a photograph in beauty if not detail. Thus, he took some liberties with the painting, such as refining the dress trim, lifting Mrs. Wornall's face and tidying her hair.
Bingham rarely painted portraits in profile, but a photograph of Mrs. Wornall, taken in a favorite dress from her trousseau, served as the model for this canvas. The pose recalls the then-popular Grecian-style profile, so named after its resemblance to Antique sculpture. Bingham surely was aware that a painting had to surpass a photograph in beauty if not detail. Thus, he took some liberties with the painting, such as refining the dress trim, lifting Mrs. Wornall's face and tidying her hair.
Fern Helen Rusk, George Caleb Bingham: The Missouri Artist
(Jefferson City, Mo.: Hugh Stephens Co., 1917), 127 (as Portrait of
Mrs. J. B. Wurnall); “Old Wornall Homestead Could Tell Interesting Tale if It Had Speech,” Kansas City Journal-Post, 1 February
1925, C5; “The Life of Roma Wornall Was Linked Inseparably in
Romance with One of the Oldest Houses in Kansas City,” Kansas
City Star, 9 May 1933, 3; “A Gay Heart Is Stilled,” Kansas City
Star, 9 May 1933, 1; John Francis McDermott, George Caleb Bingham: River Portraitist (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1959), 430 (as Mrs. John B. Wornall); “George Caleb Bingham:
Sesquicentennial Exhibition, 1811–1961,” Bulletin (William Rock-
hill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts)
3 (1961), 17 (as Portrait of Roma Johnson [Wornall]); “Wornall
Home Saw the City Grow,” Kansas City Star, 8 May 1966, 2D;
E. Maurice Bloch, George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967),
131 (as Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson]); William Hollan, “Nelson Gallery Given Three Bingham Portraits,” Kansas City
Times, 23 May 1985, B4; “Hand-Picked Art,” Kansas City Times,
1 June 1985, C6; Donald Hoffmann, “Grandma Moses Exhibit
Set for Omaha,” Kansas City Star, 2 June 1985, 6D; Laura Rollins Hockaday, “Kansas City People,” Kansas City Star, 23 June
1985, 7I; Calendar of Events (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art),
June 1985, 2, cover; Edgar A. Albin, “Kansas City Museum Buys
Works by Rauschenberg, Bingham,” Springfield (Mo.) News-
Leader, 28 July 1985, 2H (as Portrait of Roma Wornall); E. Maurice
Bloch, The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986), 112, 224 (as
Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson]); NAMA 1991, 79 (as
Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson Wornall]).
(Jefferson City, Mo.: Hugh Stephens Co., 1917), 127 (as Portrait of
Mrs. J. B. Wurnall); “Old Wornall Homestead Could Tell Interesting Tale if It Had Speech,” Kansas City Journal-Post, 1 February
1925, C5; “The Life of Roma Wornall Was Linked Inseparably in
Romance with One of the Oldest Houses in Kansas City,” Kansas
City Star, 9 May 1933, 3; “A Gay Heart Is Stilled,” Kansas City
Star, 9 May 1933, 1; John Francis McDermott, George Caleb Bingham: River Portraitist (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1959), 430 (as Mrs. John B. Wornall); “George Caleb Bingham:
Sesquicentennial Exhibition, 1811–1961,” Bulletin (William Rock-
hill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts)
3 (1961), 17 (as Portrait of Roma Johnson [Wornall]); “Wornall
Home Saw the City Grow,” Kansas City Star, 8 May 1966, 2D;
E. Maurice Bloch, George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné
(Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967),
131 (as Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson]); William Hollan, “Nelson Gallery Given Three Bingham Portraits,” Kansas City
Times, 23 May 1985, B4; “Hand-Picked Art,” Kansas City Times,
1 June 1985, C6; Donald Hoffmann, “Grandma Moses Exhibit
Set for Omaha,” Kansas City Star, 2 June 1985, 6D; Laura Rollins Hockaday, “Kansas City People,” Kansas City Star, 23 June
1985, 7I; Calendar of Events (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art),
June 1985, 2, cover; Edgar A. Albin, “Kansas City Museum Buys
Works by Rauschenberg, Bingham,” Springfield (Mo.) News-
Leader, 28 July 1985, 2H (as Portrait of Roma Wornall); E. Maurice
Bloch, The Paintings of George Caleb Bingham: A Catalogue Raisonné (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1986), 112, 224 (as
Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson]); NAMA 1991, 79 (as
Mrs. John Bristow Wornall [Roma Johnson Wornall]).
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George Caleb Bingham
1874
53-56
