Alla Nazimova by Edward Emerson Simmons, 1910, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 86 142Nazimova d1

Simmons (1852–1931) was a keynote figure of an important group called “The Ten”, an important association of artists who came together in 1897 and exhibited their work independently. Born in Concord, Mass. And related to writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, Simmons graduated from Harvard in 1874. He began his formal artistic training at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1877. He proceeded to study in Paris at the prestigious Ecoles des Beaux Arts. Simmons is most recognized for his murals and his colorful Impressionist landscapes. He visited Nantucket and completed this work July of 1916. This piece was exhibited 1916 and 1917 exhibitions of The Ten in Providence and New York.