Thomas Sully
1859
Artist, American, 1778 - 1860
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas board
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 60.8 x 50.8 cm (23 15/16 x 20 in.)
framed: 81.4 x 71.3 x 7.3 cm (32 1/16 x 28 1/16 x 2 7/8 in.) -
Accession
1955.2.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Joseph Harrison, Jr. [1810-1874], Philadelphia;[1] his wife, Sarah Poulterer Harrison [Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1817-1906], Philadelphia;[2] (her estate sale, M. Thomas and Sons, Philadelphia, 23-25 February 1910, no. 134).[3] Leland Harrison [1883-1951], Washington, D.C., great-grandson of Joseph Harrison;[4] gift 1955 to NGA of Anne Churchill Coleman Harrison [Mrs. Leland Harrison, d. 1966],[5] Washington, D.C. in her husband's name.
[1] Catalogue of Pictures in the Collection of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, c. 1870: 4, no. 10. The frame appears to be the original; it bears a nineteenth century label from the frame shop of James S. Earle and Son, 6 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. On the back of the board itself are labels fromm the Harrison collection and the 1887 exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
[2] Earl Shinn, "The Collection of Mrs. Joseph Harrison", The Art Treasures of America, 3 vols., Philadelphia, 1879-1882, reprinted by Garland Publishing, New York, 1977: 2(1880):108.
[3] Catalogue of Paintings, Statuary, etc. The Collection of the Late Joseph Harrison, Jr. (of 221 S. 18th St., Rittenhouse Square) and belonging to the Estate of Mrs. Sarah Harrison, Deceased, M. Thomas and Sons, Philadelphia Art Galleries, sale of 23-25 February 1910: 37. The sale was recorded in American Art Annual 8 (1911): 353, 377, where the portrait is listed as by Charles Willson Peale. An annotated copy of the auction catalogue at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania gives the price brought by the portrait, but not the buyer's name. (This information is courtesy of Carolyn Sue Nutty, who notes that two prices are listed by each lot, perhaps reflecting the pre-sale estimate and the sale price. For this painting the two prices were $250 and $50. Conversation with Ellen G. Miles, 15 May 1996.)
[4] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. 38: 583-84; Felice Levy, Obituaries on File, 2 vols., New York, 1979: 1:255; John E. Findling, Dictionary of American Diplomatic History, Westport, Connecticut, and London, 1980: 210. Who Was Who in America 3, 1951-1960: 375, gives the year 1893 in error as his birth date.
[5] Mrs. Harrison's death date is noted in the NGA donor files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1860
Thirty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1860, no. 79.
1864
At the home of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, 1864.
1887
Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1887-1888, no. 412.
1955
Famous Americans, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1955, no cat.
1967
National Gallery Loan Exhibition, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1967, no. 4.
1974
Selected American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, University Center Gallery, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1974, no cat.
Bibliography
1859
"Personal." New York Times (18 June 1859): 8.
1860
"Obituary: Rembrandt Peale." The Crayon 7 (November 1860): 328.
1864
"Philadelphia Art Notes." Round Table 2 (9 July 1864): 59.
1870
Catalogue of Pictures in the Gallery of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, not dated (c. 1870): 2, no. 15.
Catalogue of Pictures, Statuary, and Bronzes in the Gallery of Joseph Harrison, Jr., Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1870: 4, no. 10.
1880
Shinn, Earl [Edward Strahan]. "The Collection of Mrs. Joseph Harrison." In The Art Treasures of America. Vol. 2. Philadelphia, 1880. Reprint, New York, 1977: 108.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 88, repro.
1976
Baekeland, Frederick. "Collectors of American Painting, 1813 to 1913." American Art Review 3 (November-December 1976): 130.
Evans, Dorinda. "Thomas Sully [by Rembrandt Peale]." In Philadelphia: Three Centuries of American Art. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976: 252.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 205, repro.
1986
Scheflow, Carrie H. "Rembrandt Peale: A Chronology." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 110, no. 1 (January 1986): 179.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 257, repro.
1993
Nutty, Carolyn Sue Himelick. "Joseph Harrison, Jr. (1810-1874): Philadelphia Art Collector." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, 1993: 1:252-253, 578.
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: 68-71, color repro.
Inscriptions
center right: R. Peale / 1859.
Wikidata ID
Q20188410