New Web objects Portrait

Jacob Maentel

Date: 1825–39

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.92

Text Entries: Flowers and pets frequently appeared in folk portraits of children. Often these have symbolic meaning, such as the rose, a convention used to indicate the female gender. Approximately seventy-five percent of all nineteenth-century images of children are posthumous mourning portraits due to the high mortality rate of the period. The seeming weightlessness and stiff quality of this figure shown standing against a rose-tinted sky (an indicator of death) suggest this painting maybe a memorial to a daughter. Other mourning portraits feature leafless trees, drooping flowers, empty baby shoes, chairs, or cradle.

Joseph H. Davis

Date: c. 1832–38

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.30

Text Entries: <i>Two Centuries of American Folk Painting, </i>Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, February 10–April 21, 1985.<br><br> Collection Cameo companion piece, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 2000.<br><br> <i>Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, </i>Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.<br><br> <i>A Rich Simplicity: Folk Art from the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, </i>Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, June 7–September 21, 2003.<br><br> <i>Visages de l'Amérique: de George Washington à Marilyn Monroe</i> (<i>Faces of America: From George Washington to Marilyn Monroe</i>), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 31, 2004 (on exhibition partial run: April 1–July 5, 2004). [exh. cat.]

Joseph H. Davis

Date: 1833

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.31

Text Entries: Many early-nineteenth-century paintings of young adults depict courtship or engagement, as might this one. Although books commonly symbolized refinement and frequently appear in Davis's portraits, this book joins the couple, perhaps emphasizing their pending union. The unpainted background accentuates the fashionable couple's costume and coiffure which are rendered with crisp precision. The colorful decorative carpet or stenciled floor provides visual weight that helps to anchor the figures in space.

Joseph H. Davis

Date: 1834

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.36

Text Entries: Joseph H. Davis, of New Hampshire and Maine, primarily painted profile likenesses of New England residents in watercolor on paper, a less expensive and more convenient medium to travel with than oil paint and canvas. In his distinct style, Davis rendered facial features with linear precision and objects signifying refined middle-class taste with meticulous description. Several Davis trademarks appear in this watercolor: the sitters' names and ages and the date appear in skillful calligraphic lettering along the base of the painting and a framed picture above a table-in this case, a farm-typically a reference to the sitter's home or business. Samuel wears a plain suit, which communicated respectability and personal achievement during this time of emerging American capitalism. His colorfully decorated soft cap, an accessory worn at home or in casual situations, stands in contrast to his somber costume. Mary Vickery's dress expresses prosperity through the fine delicate quality of her lace apron, her fringed red kerchief, and the rich blue gown with large puffed sleeves that were in vogue from 1825 to 1840.

Henry Walton

Date: c. 1850

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.140

Text Entries: Henry Walton earned his living by painting portraits, primarily watercolors, although he is most famous for his 1836-1850 lithographs of New York townscapes. Walton, born in New York, made his way to California in 1851 with a gold rush party, but left for the Midwest in 1857 to settle in Michigan. This itinerant artist masterfully rendered forms, color and texture with convincing realism-indicative of the wide variety of styles regarded as American folk art. Walton's attention to specificity and detail was a result of his concerted effort to master technique through practice both as a painter and printmaker.

William Merritt Chase

Date: by 1886

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.11

Text Entries: Gallati, Barbara. <i>William Merritt Chase</i>. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1995. Text p. 30; ill. p. 30 (black & white).<br><br> Pisano, Ronald G.; completed by D. Frederick Baker and Carolyn K. Lane. <i>William Merritt Chase; Still Lifes, Interiors, Figures, Copies of Old Masters and Drawings (The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work of William Merritt Chase, Vol 4)</i>. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2010. Ill. p.197, D.67 (color).

William Merritt Chase

Date: c. 1892

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.24

Text Entries: Atkinson, D. Scott et al. <i>A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art</i>. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-69, p. 178 (color).<br><br> Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. <i>Faces of America: Portraits of the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, 1770-1940</i>. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. frontispiece (color).<br><br> Kennedy, Elizabeth and Sophie Lévy. <i>Visages de l'Amérique: le portrait dans la collection de la Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1770–1940</i>. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2004. Text p. 30 (checklist); ill. frontispiece (color).<br><br> Pisano, Ronald G.; completed by D. Frederick Baker. <i>William Merritt Chase; The Paintings in Pastel, Monotypes, Painted Tiles and Ceramic Plates, Watercolors and Prints (The Complete Catalogue of Known and Documented Work of William Merritt Chase, Vol 1)</i>. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006. Text p. 84 [listed as "location unknown"]; Ill., p. 84, W.35 (color).