Dom Raimundo de Madrazo - Portrait of Mrs. Virginie Migeon Swift

Raimundo de Madrazo was a member of the most prominent artistic family in nineteenth-century Spain. As a highly successful portraitist in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Paris, Madrazo also was much sought after by members of New York society, whom he painted during several sojourns in this city. Virginie Migeon Swift (ca. 1865/73-1942) was the daughter of Connecticut industrialist, Achille F. Migeon (1834-1903); she married Dr. Edwin Elisha Swift (1855-1933) of New York in 1891. Her sister, Clara Louise Migeon Swayze, donated the portrait to the Society after Mrs. Swift’s death. With its original neo-rococo frame, Mrs. Swift’s portrait offers a fascinating glimpse into the elegance of “Belle Époque” New York.