The Women Of The Supreme Court Now Have The Badass Portrait They Deserve

[appleannie1]

The women of the Supreme Court are the subjects of a new painting unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

The portrait features the high court's current female justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, as well as Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired from the bench in 2005. O'Connor made history in 1981 when she became the first woman ever named to the Supreme Court.

Artist Nelson Shanks was commissioned by collectors Ian and Annette Cumming to paint the portrait. According to the Smithsonian, the painting is on loan to the museum for three years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/28/supreme-court-women-portrait_n_4171983.html?1383006537&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

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1. Nice to see Sandra Day O'Connor again

Isn't she the swing vote that allowed GW Bush to steal the election and put us through eight years of hell? Could have left her out as far as I'm concerned.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. That's a great portrait

It definitely captures their personalities through the depiction of their eyes.

[brer cat]

3. I agree.

I think the artist caught much of their personalities, and the eyes drew me in.

I noted right away the three empty flower pots outside the window...I hope the artist isn't subtly suggesting that the current three are empty vessels.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. What I caught my eye first was the mirror

behind Sotomayor and Kagan, and how it reflected a full bookcase across the room... Plus the attempt to "balance" to composition due to their justices' staggered positioning, by having that red pillow and books next to O'Connor. You could basically divide up the canvas into 4 quarters (although I don't know if that AP photo includes the whole frame of the portrait). The window that you're talking about is very old-fashioned, looking out to a large foyer, so I thought it was interesting but did not pay much attention to the decorative containers thinking that this may have been done from both sketches of the women in position and photos of just the room (including the view through the window that may have been like that).