Lost Art of Miss Mary Jett Franklin

23/04/2026

Good news! "La Toilette" sold this afternoon at Bonham's in New York and did very well (I think, anyway)! I hope the new owner will enjoy her as much as we have enjoyed following her progress!

La Toilette signed and inscribed 'Mary Franklin - / Paris' (lower right) oil on canvas 39 1/2 x 31 in. (100.3 x 78.7 cm.) Painted circa 1895.

18/04/2026

Hooray! Another Mary Jett Franklin picture has come to light, thanks to an email from one of our readers! It is a pastel on paper of a young, brown-eyed woman with her brown hair pulled back in a bun. The expression in the face makes you want to learn more about her!
This pastel was purchased at an auction house in France this year - it had been re-framed in a modern frame, but they saved the label of the original framer, who operated in Lyon, France in the late 1800s & early 1900s. Based on that alone, I believe this could have been rendered in the early 1900s - about 1902-1905, in Paris. It is signed " Mary Franklin / Paris " in the top left corner.

02/04/2026

"La Toilette" has been meticulously restored and is now being offered for sale at Bonhams in New York on April 23, 2026.

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/31842/lot/38/mary-jett-franklin-1842-1928-la-toilette-39-12-x-31-in-1003-x-787-cm-painted-circa-1895/

26/01/2026

The charming painting called "La Toilette" has been fully restored by its current owner & I am so happy to see what a wonderful job they have done bringing this work back to its original 1895 state when Miss Mary Franklin entered it in the Salon de Champs de Mars in Paris!
This painting was in very rough shape when it was put up for auction in January 2025. Thank you, David, for caring enough to get this little work restored & preserved for the next 100 years!

28/01/2025

This painting "La Toilette", painted about 1896 in Paris by Miss Mary Jett Franklin, was sold last Saturday at Case Antiques Auction in Knoxville, Tennessee USA, and brought the winning bid that was 550% higher than the estimated price!! The final cost (including buyer's premium) was $9,750 USD!! Even though the item looked to be in poor condition, we are so elated to know that Miss Mary Jett Franklin's art has been so well received in the 21st century! And I pray that the new owner will share their plans for it with us, so we don't lose touch with it for another 100 years.

Another of her lovely paintings, "Dans la sacristie de Bagneux", was sold in New Orleans, Louisiana USA, in November and has now returned to the church at Bagneux, France, where Miss Mary Jett got her inspiration for the work, where it is proudly on display!

Maybe these successful auctions will bring more of her paintings to light, whether in France, North Africa, America, or wherever, so that her legacy can be as appreciated as they were when she first painted them.

20/12/2024

Another painting by Miss Mary Jett Franklin will be going to auction in January - https://auction.caseantiques.com/online-auctions/case-antiques/mary-jett-franklin-o-c-exhibited-painting-southern-artist-6579270
This precious painting won a prize at the Salon de Champs-de-Mars 1896. Hope it will go to a good home where others can share MJF's skills & artistry!

Mary Jett Franklin (American/Georgia, 1842-1928), La Toilette, oil on canvas painting depicting a young girl with blonde hair washing her hands in a bowl at a table, c. 1895. Signed lower right, "Mary Franklin / Paris." Unframed. 39 1/2" H x 31" W. Exhibition History: Salon de Champs-de-Mars, Paris,...

19/10/2024

"Dans la Sacritistie de Bagneux" (In the Sacristy of Bagneux), 1900, auction will be November 9th with Crescent City Auction Gallery in New Orleans. The link to see the details & to register to bid is below

if you win the bid, won't you please let me know so that I can add this event to the catalogue raisonne for Miss Mary Jett Franklin?

Mary Jett Franklin (American/Georgia/Paris, 1842-1928), "Dans la sacristie de [l'eglise] Bagneux (In the Sacristy of the Church at Bagneux)," 1900, H.- 39 in., W.- 22 in., Framed- H.- 51 in., W.- 43 1/2 in.

15/10/2024

The 1895 MJF painting "La Toilette" will be going to auction with Case Auctions in Nashville, TN, January 25-26, 2025. https://caseantiques.com/

This little jewel was first exhibited at the Salon de Champs de Mars in Paris in 1896, then was shipped to the Chicago Art Institute exhibition in late 1896, & then taken to Philadelphia to be displayed in the 66th annual Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA) in Philadelphia.

The provenance from 1896 to 2020 is unknown, so we have no idea where this painting was held until 2023, when the current owner contacted this page last December.

15/10/2024

In an earlier post, we talked about there seemed to be two MJF paintings about the church at Bagneux. Thanks to the help of Nicole Casi of Crescent City Auctions in New Orleans, we now know that we were correct!
This painting was called "Dans la Sacristie de Bagneux" according to the handwritten card on the revers (believed to be the handwriting of the artist herself!).
It was exhibited in the 1901 Salon des Artistes Francais in Paris, and later shown at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia as well as the Art Institute of Chicago.

This charming painting will be going to auction at the Crescent City Auctions in New Orleans, on November 8-9, 2024. https://www.crescentcityauctiongallery.com/ - sign up for notification of this sale.

15/10/2024

Hooray!! Another Mary Jett Franklin portrait has been found!! Just a week ago I found a clipping in the Augusta Herald newspaper (5 Apr 1907, p8 DLG) about a portrait that Miss Franklin had painted of a long-time friend, Judge Pope Barrow of Savannah, was to be installed in the Chatham County GA Superior Court room in Savannah where Judge Barrow had held court for many years. The Judge died in 1903 & Miss Franklin used a favorite photograph of him to create a 1/3-lifesize portrait for the family.