Wheeler, Janet - portrait of man and lady

This pair of miniatures are believed to both be by Janet Derinda Wheeler (1866-1945), although only the one of the lady is signed "Janet Wheeler". This may be her married name, as in the 1910 census she stated she was living with her stepson Leon Wheeler aged 17. However, she always seems to have described herself as single and so it is possible Wheeler was her maiden name.

She was born in Detroit, MI and trained in Paris at Academies Julian and Courtois. She won several medals, including a gold medal at the Philadelphia Art Club in 1902 and a silver medal for painting at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904, see Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by ...

There is some confusion over her year of birth and she has added to this by the various dates of birth she gave when returning to the United States from her many trips abroad. In the census records she disclosed assets of only a few hundred dollars and it is not known how she funded her overseas trips, of which there seem to have been at least 20, mainly to Europe.

She was very accurate with her birthday, always shown as 24 December and her state of birth as Michigan, but the years she stated in her immigration declarations for her birth year include; 1860, 1861, 1866, 1867, 1869, 1870, 1872, 1873, and 1874 !!
For the 1900 census she stated the year was 1866, and at the time she was living as a boarder in Philadeplphia and 1866 is also stated in other census records.

The miniature of the man is interesting as the overall portrait of him shows how artists bought ivory sheets and then needed to cut them to the desired shape to avoid imperfections.

Both of the sitters are unknown. 276a, 276b