Linnaeus (Carl von Linn)
c. 1812
Sculptor, American, 1756 - 1833
West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G9
Artwork overview
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Medium
carved and painted pine
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Credit Line
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund)
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Dimensions
overall: 61.12 × 43.66 × 31.75 cm (24 1/16 × 17 3/16 × 12 1/2 in.)
base (width x depth): 20 × 17.62 cm (7 7/8 × 6 15/16 in.) -
Accession
2014.136.257
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Private collection, New Jersey; Kendrick Scofield [d. 1955], Washington, by 1936;[1] (Leon F.S. Stark, Philadelphia); purchased June 1951 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Corcoran records state that Scofield "purchased the bust from a New Jersey estate, where he found the bust on a gatepost." See also the correspondence between Kendrick Scofield and Henri Marceau of the Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) Museum of Art, from November 1936 through January 1937 (copies in NGA curatorial files); in his letter of 16 November 1936, Kendrick writes: "The bust was found in the Southern part of New Jersey and the man who had it assumed it was a figurehead." The original correspondence is in the Registrar's files at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and copies were sent by Linda Bantel of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to Edward Nygren of the Corcoran with her letter of 28 April 1981. Scofield, a reporter for Baltimore and Washington newspapers, was also a collector and antique dealer.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1812
Second Annual Exhibition of the Society of Artists of the United States and the Pennsylvania Academy, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 11 May - 20 June 1812, no. 2.
1937
William Rush, 1756-1833, The First Native American Sculptor, Pennsylvania Museum of Art (now Philadelphia Museum of Art), Philadelphia, 1937, no. 56, as Unidentified Head, Attributed to William Rush.[1]
1966
Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 April - 15 September 1966, unpublished checklist.
1976
The Eye of Thomas Jefferson, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 5 June - 6 September 1976, no. 581, repro.
The American Genius: W.W. Corcoran, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 24 January - 4 April 1976, catalogue without checklist.
1982
William Rush: American Sculptor, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 20 June - 21 November 1982, no. 24, repro.
Bibliography
1977
Rheims, Maurice. 19th Century Sculpture. New York, 1977: 254, no. 24, repro.
2014
Igoe, Laura Turner. "'Appropriate in a Sylvan State.' William Rush's Self-Portrait and Enviornmental Transformation." American Art 28, no. 1 (Spring 2014): 83, fig. 4.
Wikidata ID
Q63864507