Henry Bebie (American, 1798-1888)

Oil on panel, signed lower left

Provenance: from the estate of Betty Washington Whiting, a direct descendant of Betty and Martha Washington

Born Hans Heinrich, Bebie anglicised his name upon emigrating from his native Switzerland. He first arrived in Richmond, VA and resided for a short time in the western part of that state. By 1844, he had settled in Baltimore, MD and begun accepting portrait commissions. He was also known to have painted miniatures and genre scenes.

Best known for his portraits during his life, it is his genre scenes that have become his most infamous legacy. While his interior scenes of groups of women with an occasional male were long thought to be everyday parlour scenes, they are now recognised as representations of Baltimore’s most stylish brothels. Why or for whom they were painted remains a mystery.

His work can be seen in the permanent collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Bebie is listed in "Who Was Who in American Art" by Falk, "Art Across America" by Gerdts, "Artists in Virginia before 1900" by Wright and "The New York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860" by Groce and Wallace.