Evelina Mount

Growing up in the mid-nineteenth century, Evelina was one of the few women on Long Island who surpassed the constraints of her time to become a successful artist.

One of the main reasons Evelina was able to work around the propriety and social standards for young women was her familial connection to her artistic paternal uncles, especially William Sidney Mount.

[3] Although she is considered Long Island's first professional woman artist, Evelina rarely sold her works; instead she chose to gift them to family and friends.

As a young artist in her twenties, Evelina strived to depict her florals in a conventional manner, which typified one popular style of art in the late 1850s.

The placement of these flowers on a tabletop with minimal background reflect Nina's desire to keep the arrangements within a contained, logical space.

Like her uncle and mentor William Sidney Mount, Nina preferred to paint the area which she was most familiar, her hometown of Stony Brook, Long Island.

[3] Other local structures she depicted, such as the Setauket Mill and the Longbotham Farm provide some of the only visual evidence of their existence today.

For example, her oil on canvas The Dock House, Stony Brook, which was painted outdoors, reflects the spontaneity and freshness associated with works completed in the open air.