During a research visit to Fruitlands Museum last year, a unique photograph caught the eye of Dr. Paul D’Ambrosio. The image looked familiar, but what was written on the back of the photo’s card left D’Ambrosio speechless.

“Portrait of Wm Prior presented by Mrs. Edith Prior Malcolm of Groton Mass / Aug. 11, 1938.” D’Ambrosio—a nationally recognized expert of American Folk Art—had stumbled upon the only known photograph in existence of acclaimed 19th-century American Folk Art painter William Matthew Prior.

“It’s a carte de visite, a photograph roughly the size of a calling card that were popular in the mid-19th century,” said Trustees Collection Manager Anna Thompson. “I had a ‘wow, this feels exciting’ moment when I saw it while gathering materials for D’Ambrosio’s visit, but didn’t realize its significance until later.”

D’Ambrosio was at Fruitlands Museum to study a collection of paintings by the Hamblin-Prior school which are safely stored when not on exhibit. The photograph was filed with other related curatorial records containing research, acquisition information, and correspondence associated with the Fruitlands collections.

“When I shared it with [him], there was a moment where he asked, ‘is this what I think it is?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know, I’m hoping you can tell me!’” laughed Thompson as she recalled the moment.

After the initial stun of the revelation, D’Ambrosio went back to the Fenimore Art Museum where he is President and CEO and confirmed the photograph was of Prior by comparing it to the museum’s own portrait of the painter. The discovery marks yet another one-of-a-kind finding in the Fruitlands Museum collection.

Who Was William Matthew Prior?

Born in Massachusetts in 1806, William Matthew Prior is best known for his work bridging the divide between formal, academic portraiture and the emerging folk art tradition. He worked with little background scenery—reflecting the typical folk art aesthetic—while showcasing keen attention to facial features and body language.

What truly set Prior apart from other artists of the time was his dedication to making portraiture accessible to previously overlooked groups. His paintings offer a rare window into the lives of ordinary people in early America, including middle-class Americans and African Americans.

Though he was not widely recognized during his lifetime, Prior’s work has since gained critical acclaim. His raw, expressive qualities that convey a sense of personal character are celebrated as major contributions to American visual arts. The Fenimore Art Museum opened the first exhibition devoted solely to Prior in 2013 under the direction of President and CEO, Dr. Paul D’Ambrosio.

How Did Fruitlands Acquire the Photo?

In the 1930s, Fruitlands Museum founder Clara Endicott Sears began to amass what was one of largest collections of early 19th century portraits in the country. She quickly became fascinated with William Matthew Prior’s work and sought out his living relatives. After placing an advertisement in local and national newspapers, Sears began corresponding with Edith Prior Malcolm, William Matthew Prior’s granddaughter.

Through their letters, Sears uncovered much of the personal information she included in her 1941 book Some American Primitives: A Study of New England Faces and Folk Portraits. However, it wasn’t until 1938 that Sears was given the only known photo of the influential artist with a handwritten notation on the reverse side from Malcolm clearly identifying the subject as William Matthew Prior.

“At Fruitlands, the photograph resided with several of Prior’s paintings and records of the memories that Matthew and Edith had supplied,” wrote Dr. D’Ambrosio in the latest edition of Americana Insights where the discovery was published. “Over the years, these memories largely faded into obscurity. The photo, meanwhile, remained preserved within the research files and forgotten.”