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Jacob Eichholtz

William Clark Frazer, c. 1830

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 76.2 x 63.5 cm (30 x 25 in.)

framed: 85.7 x 98.4 x 7.3 cm (33 3/4 x 38 3/4 x 2 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1947.17.3

Artists / Makers

Jacob Eichholtz (artist) American, 1776 - 1842

Image Use

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Inscription

by unknown hand, on reverse, hidden by lining: William Clarke [sic] Frazier [sic] / Counsellor at Law / painted in the year 1835. / AE.T.57 Years 4 mo & 29 days / -Eichholtz- / Ex----

Provenance

The sitter [1776-1838]; probably his son, Reah Frazer [1804-1856]; the sitter's granddaughter, Susan Carpenter Frazer [d. 1930], Lancaster, Pennsylvania, by 1912; sold March 1923 to Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[1] his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), to The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1947 to NGA.

[1] According to 1928 Clarke exhibition catalogue annotated with information from files of M. Knoedler & Co., NY (copy in NGA curatorial records and in NGA library).

Associated Names

Clarke, Thomas Benedict
Frazer, Reah
Frazer, Susan Carpenter
Frazer, William Clark
Knoedler & Company, M.
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.

Exhibition History

1912: Loan Exhibition of Historical and Contemporary Portraits Illustrating the Evolution of Portraiture in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania..., Woolworth Building, Lancaster, 1912, no. 88.

1924: Exhibition of Portraits by Early American Portrait Painters, The Union League Club, New York, February 1924, no. 2.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928-1931, unnumbered and unpaginated catalogue.

1948: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1948.

1950: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1950.

1951: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.

1953: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953.

1959: Jacob Eichholtz, Historical Society of York County, York, Pennsylvania, 1959, no. 39 (organized by Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg).

1989: Extended loan for use by Ambassador Henry A. Catto, U.S. Embassy residence, London, England, 1989-1991.

1991: Extended loan for use by Ambassador Raymond G. H. Seitz, U.S. Embassy residence, London, England, 1991-1994.

2003: The Worlds of Jacob Eichholtz, Portrait Painter of the Early Republic, shown at one of three simultaneous venues: The Heritage Center of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2003, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Technical Summary

The support is a fine, plain-weave fabric that has been lined. Cusping appears on all four cut edges. The warm white ground layer is artist-applied and appears to consist of two layers, a smooth thin coat applied overall, followed by a thicker, coarser layer brushed in the central area of the support, in an unusual pattern. Paint was applied simply, with little layering, and with reserves left for all design elements. The face was painted with thin, opaque layers of fluid paint blended wet-into-wet and with glazes. The slight halo along the contours is the exposed ground layer. The painting has a small loss in the bottom center. Numerous small areas of the face and white shirtfront have been inpainted. The painting was last treated in 1959, when it was lined, discolored varnish was removed, and it was restored. The painting appears to have several layers of varnish, all of which are semi-matte and have not discolored.

Bibliography

1913: Hensel, William U. "Jacob Eichholtz, Painter." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 37 (1913): 67.

1925: Hostetter, Ida L.K. "A Short Preface to a Copy of a Memorandum of Jacob Eichholtz, the Artist" and "List of Portraits and Paintings of Jacob...." Papers Read before the Lancaster County Historical Society, November 6, 1925 29 (1925): 291, no. 81.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928, unnumbered.

1969: Beal, Rebecca J. Jacob Eichholtz, 1776-1842. Philadelphia, 1969: 89, no. 288.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 54, repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 153, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 173, repro.

1996: Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 213-214, color repro.