Daniel Huntington found a ready market for uplifting genre subjects, such as this softly lit image of a young woman trimming her straw hat with woodland flowers. It was likely a nod to the growing number of city residents who longed for more direct contact with unspoiled nature. The picture was acquired as a work of contemporary art by David Lewis Bartlett (1816-1899), a Baltimore collector who lent it to the National Academy of Design for public exhibition in 1865.