1st women on Supreme Court join Portrait Gallery

Associated Press//October 29, 2013

//October 29, 2013

Photo of the Supreme Court Women Painting — Artist Nelson Shanks talks about his painting, “The Four Justices”, a 9-foot, 6-inch by 7-foot 9-inch oil on canvas portrait of the first four female justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, during a press preview at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has installed a loaned painting of the first four female Supreme Court justices.

The large-scale portrait of Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan was installed Monday. The museum will display “The Four Justices” for three years.

Artist Nelson Shanks painted the 9-foot-6-inch-tall portrait depicting the first four women to serve on the nation’s highest court.

Museum Director Kim Sajet (Sayet) says the scale of the painting speaks to the “grand accomplishments made by these four women” and the example they have set for future generations.

Art collectors Ian and Annette Cumming commissioned Shanks to paint the piece. It was completed in 2012.

Shanks’ work is also represented in the museum’s collection in a portrait of President Bill Clinton.

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