Special Collections
Emily DickinsonA new portrait
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The Jones Library, the Emily Dickinson Museum, and the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections invite you to view the color portrait in oil in the Special Collections Department of the Jones Library. The historically-researched portrait is based on the poet's well-known daguerreotype image.
Cuéllar used all three local Dickinson institutions to research his Emily Dickinson oil portrait. In addition to using local resources, Cuéllar traveled to museums and consulted historians of the nineteenth century to research every aspect of the elements captured by the photograph: the hair, skin, dress, jewelry, and even the original photographer's props, such as the tablecloth and waxed orange blossom flowers.
Cuéllar's goal with his portrait was to render the poet in her true colors: "Most people have a color-blind image of Emily Dickinson since there was only one daguerreotype that portrays the poet in varying shades of gray. For example, I did not know that she was a redhead." He made the painting "as if I were a portrait artist living in the 1840s." He was intrigued by her age in the daguerreotype, a teenager, and wanted to show "not only who she was, but also who she was becoming."
In addition to portraiture, Cuéllar is the President of the Center for Creative Consciousness in Sunderland, Massachusetts, and the co-founder of the New England Art Therapy Institute. He is a private consultant in many areas of organizational development, such as managing diversity, addressing organizational culture change, and innovation.
The Special Collections Department of the Jones Library houses extensive collections in the fields of local and regional history, genealogy and Amherst authors. Its extensive collection of Emily Dickinson materials was begun in 1921 by Charles R. Green and helps to place the poet within the context of her community in the mid-nineteenth century. The Amherst College Archives and Special Collections houses Amherst College's rare books, literary manuscripts, written materials of unique value, and those that relate to the College and its history. The collection includes one of the two major holdings of Emily Dickinson's manuscripts, along with several personal items, including her daguerreotype. The Emily Dickinson Museum at 280 Main Street in Amherst was formed last year when the Dickinson Homestead, the poet's birthplace and home, merged with The Evergreens, home of the poet's brother and sister-in-law.
The Special Collections Department is open Tuesdays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Mondays and Saturdays 2-5 p.m.; closed Sundays and some holidays (call for more information).
For more information, contact Tevis Kimball at tkimball@cwmars.org or (413)259-3090.