Elizabeth “Betsey” Reed was the first woman executed in Illinois, hanged in 1845 after being convicted of murder. She was also a midwife and herbalist—roles that placed her outside male authority and made her knowledge easy to recast as threat.
In Women, Reimagined, this portrait moves beyond the verdict that defined her. Contemporary color and abstraction disrupt the rigidity of the historical record, softening edges that once fixed Reed as guilty and contained. The work centers on presence rather than punishment.
Reed’s story remains unsettled. While a jury condemned her in 1845, a modern stage play and discussions in 2018 revealed renewed doubt about her guilt. Reimagined in the present, her image reflects the series’ central question: how women who lived beyond accepted norms are judged, remembered, and whether history allows them to be seen as more than their sentence.
25 hand-signed, numbered, limited-edition archival prints available
18×24 inch wall size on 100% cotton cold-press watercolor paper
Designed to last 100+ years with proper care
Includes certificate of authenticity
Once sold out, the edition will never be reprinted
Please allow 10-14 business days for your art to be shipped. Art comes unframed so you can pick the perfect frame for your space.
Elizabeth “Betsey” Reed was the first woman executed in Illinois, hanged in 1845 after being convicted of murder. She was also a midwife and herbalist—roles that placed her outside male authority and made her knowledge easy to recast as threat.
In Women, Reimagined, this portrait moves beyond the verdict that defined her. Contemporary color and abstraction disrupt the rigidity of the historical record, softening edges that once fixed Reed as guilty and contained. The work centers on presence rather than punishment.
Reed’s story remains unsettled. While a jury condemned her in 1845, a modern stage play and discussions in 2018 revealed renewed doubt about her guilt. Reimagined in the present, her image reflects the series’ central question: how women who lived beyond accepted norms are judged, remembered, and whether history allows them to be seen as more than their sentence.
25 hand-signed, numbered, limited-edition archival prints available
18×24 inch wall size on 100% cotton cold-press watercolor paper
Designed to last 100+ years with proper care
Includes certificate of authenticity
Once sold out, the edition will never be reprinted
Please allow 10-14 business days for your art to be shipped. Art comes unframed so you can pick the perfect frame for your space.
