The David Children

1826

Thomas Sully

Artist, American, born England, 1783 - 1872

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 87 x 112.4 cm (34 1/4 x 44 1/4 in.)
    framed: 107 x 132.4 x 7.6 cm (42 1/8 x 52 1/8 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1948.13.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

John Foster Jenkins [1826-1882], husband of the sitters' sister, Elizabeth Sicard David Jenkins [d. 1885]; their son, John Foster Jenkins, Jr. [1861-1931], Yonkers, New York; Albert Rosenthal [1863-1939], Philadelphia, and (Ehrich Galleries, New York);[1] Cornelius Michaelsen, New York; (his sale, Rains Galleries, New York, 8 May 1935, no. 88); Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] The triple portrait and Sully's pendant portraits of the children's parents were offered for sale by John Foster Jenkins, Jr., who advertised them in a brochure entitled "Three Portraits by Thomas Sully." The Cleveland Museum of Art purchased the pendant portraits directly from him in 1916, but this part of the provenance of the National Gallery's painting is unclear. Albert Rosenthal, in a letter to Chester Dale's secretary (10 December 1935, in NGA curatorial files), says that he purchased the painting from descendants of the David family through James B. Townshend, publisher of American Art News. The painting was reproduced in that magazine (16 June 1917: 5) with the caption "Recently sold to Mr. Albert Rosenthal of Phila.," and Dale collection notes in NGA curatorial files indicate the purchase was probably in May 1917. Cornelius Michaelsen wrote to Mr. Dale's secretary that he had purchased the painting from Mr. Rosenthal's private collection (letter of 15 September 1935 in NGA curatorial files). However, other notes in the NGA curatorial files indicate the painting was purchased by Rosenthal jointly with Ehrich Galleries. A 1918 publication by Ehrich Galleries (One Hundred Early American Paintings) lists paintings that have "at various times been in our possession," and the absence of a private owner's name in the listing for the Sully implies ownership by them. In the 1935 letter Rosenthal does not recall having lent it to any public exhibition, but it was in a 1931 exhibition at the New Jersey State Museum that he organized, and listed as lent by Ferergil Galleries, who were, with Ehrich Galleries, the main lenders.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1826

  • Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1826, no. 19.

1917

  • Exhibition of Portraits by Stuart and Sully, Ehrich Galleries, New York, 1917, no. 17.

1920

  • Paintings by Thomas Sully, Ehrich Galleries, New York, 1920, unnumbered.

1931

  • Loan Exhibition of Early American Paintings, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1931, no. 16.

1937

  • An Exhibition of American Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, The Union League Club, New York, 1937, no. 12.

1944

  • John Trumbull and his Contemporaries, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut, 1944, no. 122.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1909

  • Hart 1909, no. 417, 52.

1921

  • Biddle, Edward, and Mantle Fielding. The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Philadelphia, 1921: no. 438, 135.

1937

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. "Some Unfamiliar American Paintings." Art News 35, no. 17 (23 January 1937): 20.

1965

  • Paintings other than French in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 34, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 112, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 244, repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: detail 84, 87, color repro. 95.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 362, repro.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 165-168, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: TS (in monogram) 18[--]

Wikidata ID

Q20185485

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