A Woman from the Arctic1826 · Study 1980.249

Context from the museum

When this painting was shown in an 1826 exhibition, the accompanying catalogue stated that it was "painted after nature." Although Léon Cogniet never traveled to North America, he may have encountered a native person from the Arctic. In 1820, an American sea captain, Samuel Hadlock, met two Inuit from Labrador, George Niakungitok and Mary Coonahnik, who accompanied Hadlock on a tour of America and Europe. The tour, an early example of a commercial show presenting people from lesser-known parts of the world to paying European audiences, concluded in Paris in 1826. The show also included a panoramic view of Baffin Bay (located between northeast Canada and Greenland) that may have inspired the cloudy sky and ice formations in Cogniet's painting.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for A Woman from the Arctic is 36.5 cm wide and 42.5 cm high, equivalent to approximately 14.4 × 16.7 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.86:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.16 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 12.2% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 131.8 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With A Woman from the Arctic in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on fabric, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 36.5 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?