Thomas Paine
c. 1806/1807
Artist, American, 1780 - 1840
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 65.4 x 52.1 cm (25 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)
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Accession
1950.15.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Christopher C. Yates [d. 1848], New York and Albany, by 1836.[1] James Ferguson [d. 1867], Albany and Washington, D.C., by 1860.[2] His wife, Amelia Ferguson, Washington, D.C. Horatio Bridge [d. 1893], Washington, D.C., and Athens, Pennsylvania, probably by 1868;[3] his wife, Charlotte M. Bridge [d. 1904], Athens, Pennsylvania; her grandniece, Marian Bridge Maurice, Athens, Pennsylvania;[4] gift 1950 to NGA.
[1] A paper label formerly affixed to the reverse of the original canvas, dated "New York Augt. 1836.," signed by "J.W. Jarvis" and "Chas. Jarvis.," and apparently in the latter's handwriting, reads: "This certifies that the portrait of the late Thomas Paine, author of the `Rights of Man' & now in the possession of Doctor Yates in this city, was painted by me ["from" crossed out] about the year 1805, and is the only original portrait of that gentleman executed in America." Harold E. Dickson, "The Jarvis Portrait of Thomas Paine,", New-York Historical Society Quarterly 34 (January 1950): 8, notes that the looped signature used by John Wesley Jarvis in his later years is consistent with this example. He accounts for Charles Wesley Jarvis' signature and role in writing the authentication with the observation that the elder Jarvis had suffered an incapacitating stroke two years earlier. His son saw to his affairs during this late period.
[2] The catalogue for the Washington Art Association Annual in 1860 lists the owner of the Jarvis portrait of Paine as "Prof. Fergerson" [sic].
[3] Amelia Ferguson, in a letter dated 30 November 1868 and sent to "Mrs. Bridge" (in NGA curatorial files), authorized the latter "to sell the portrait of Thomas Paine Esqr for any sum over $30." Bridge's husband apparently purchased the portrait instead of selling it. An unsigned, handwritten scrap of paper of uncertain provenance, sent to the NGA curatorial files in 1972 from the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, copies the inscription (see n. 1, above) and continues: "The above portrait was purchased by the late Horatio Bridge U.S.N. in Washington, D.C. about 1860 and was left by his widow to her grand niece Marian Bridge Maurice Feb. 22nd 1904 [illegible] now in her house in Athens, Penna. March 25, 1905."
[4] Letter of 11 February 1953 from Margaret Stewart Maurice (in NGA curatorial files) provides provenance information within the Bridge and Maurice families. See also the wills of Horatio and Charlotte M. Bridge, nos. 5416 and 7470, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1860
Washington Art Association Annual, Washington, D.C., 1860, no. 11, as by G.[sic] W. Jarvis.
1950
American Processional, 1492-1900, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1950, no. 93.
1951
American Portraits from the National Gallery of Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1951, no. 19 (organized by the Atlanta Art Association).
They Gave us Freedom, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, 1951, no. 16.
1952
Opening Exhibition of The George Thomas Hunter Gallery of Art, Chattanooga Art Association, Tennessee, 1952, unnumbered.
[Opening exhibition], Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1952, no. cat.
1955
Famous Americans, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1955, no cat.
1968
This New Man: A Discourse in Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1968, p. 74.
1969
Art in Miniature [International Philatelic Exhibition in conjunction with San Diego's 200th Anniversary], San Diego Community Concourse; Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, 1969, no cat.
1975
"The Dye is Now Cast," The Road to American Independence, 1774-1776, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1975, no. 196.
The Face of Liberty: Founders of the United States, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, 1975-1976, p. 236.
1980
Loan for display with permanent collection, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1980-2000.
2005
Tom Paine: Patriot and Provocateur, New York Historical Society, 2005, no cat.
Bibliography
1892
Conway, Moncure Daniel. The Life of Thomas Paine. 2 vols. New York, 1892.
1912
Van der Weyde, William M. "John Wesley Jarvis." Americana 7 (July 1912): 651-652, 654.
Van der Weyde, William M. "Paine's Friend J.W. Jarvis." Truth Seeker (8 April 1912): 230.
1927
Harrington, John Walker. "John Wesley Jarvis, Portraitist." American Magazine of Art 18 (November 1927): 582.
1940
Dickson, Harold E. "John Wesley Jarvis, Knickerbocker Painter." New-York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin 24 (April 1940): 64.
1949
Bement, Alon. "Some Portraits of Thomas Paine." Antiques 56 (July 1949): 34.
Dickson, Harold E. John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter, 1780-1840. New York, 1949: 89, 105-106, 116, 380, no. 387.
1950
Dickson, Harold E. "The Jarvis Portrait of Thomas Paine." New-York Historical Society Quarterly 34 (January 1950): 5-11, repro. 4.
Dickson, Harold E. "An Authentic Portrait of Thomas Paine." Antiques 57 (February 1950): 115, repro.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 72, repro.
1972
Ketchum, Richard M. "Men of the Revolution-VII." American Heritage 23 (October 1972): 61.
1974
Hawke, David Freeman. Paine. New York, 1974: 389.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 182, repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 84, repro. 86.
1986
Zellman, Michael David, comp. American Art Analog. 3 vols. New York, 1986: 1:88, color repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 211, 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: 361-366, color repro.
Wikidata ID
Q20182169