Captain Isaac Foster
1755
Painter, American, 1708 - 1765
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on bed ticking
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 91.7 x 71.2 cm (36 1/8 x 28 1/16 in.)
framed: 104.5 x 83.8 x 5.7 cm (41 1/8 x 33 x 2 1/4 in.) -
Accession
1957.11.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Mrs. David Buffum, Walpole, New Hampshire, by 1873;[1] her son, Dr. Thomas Bellows Buffum, Walpole, New Hampshire, by 1918;[2] Annie Buffum Williams [Mrs. Nathan W. Williams], Northampton, Massachusetts, 1943.[3] Purchased in Boston before 16 May 1949 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch;[4] gift 1957 to NGA.
[1] Augustus Thorndike Perkins, A Sketch of the Life and List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley, Boston, 1873, 125; Mrs. Buffum is described as a descendant. Frank W. Bayley, The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley, Boston, 1915, 108-109 repeats Perkins's information.
[2] Lawrence Park, Joseph Badger (1708-1765), And a Descriptive List of some of his Works, Boston, 1918, 14; Historical Records Survey 1942, 8.
[3] Letter from Mrs. Williams to the Frick Art Reference Library, 28 November 1943.
[4] A treatment report made for the Garbisches by conservators Sheldon and Caroline Keck notes that the Kecks received the painting on 16 May 1949. An undated information sheet compiled for the Garbisches states that the painting was acquired in Boston. (Both documents are in NGA curatorial files.)
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1975
The World of Franklin and Jefferson, traveling exhibition circulated by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, 6 venues (Paris, Warsaw, London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles), 1975-1977, not included in cat.
1981
American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, IL, 1981-1982, no. 16
Bibliography
1873
Perkins, Augustus Thorndike. A Sketch of the Life and a List of some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1873: 125.
1915
Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1915: 108-109.
1918
Park 1918, 14.
1942
Historical Records Survey. "Preliminary Checklist of American Portraits 1620-1860 Found in New Hampshire." Boston, 1942: 8.
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 12, repro.
1972
Nylander, Richard C. "Joseph Badger, American Portrait Painter". M.A. thesis, State University of New York at Oneonta, 1972: 54.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 22, repro.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 23, repro.
1995
Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 3-4, repro. 2.
Inscriptions
lower right: 1755; on reverse of the original canvas: Isaac Foster; / Son of Richard;Foster Esqr. / And Parnell His Wife Was Born Janu Ye 3rd, 1703 / 4
Wikidata ID
Q20178084