The Bashful Cousin
c. 1841-1842
Painter, American, 1806 - 1863
Scenes detailing middle-class manners and mores became prevalent in American art and literature toward the middle of the nineteenth century, and Francis Edmonds' amusing vignette regarding matrimonial intent successfully combines these two avenues of expression. The painting is loosely based on James Kirke Paulding's "The Dutchman's Fireside," a popular tale set in mid-eighteenth-century New York. The story deals with the relationship between a shy, ungainly bachelor, Sybrandt Westbrook, and his distant cousin, Catalina Vancour. As the young woman implores her diffident caller to stay for tea, her mother gestures towards the couple. She is either soliciting her husband's help in persuading the young man to remain, or -- in the hope of securing an even better match for her daughter -- attempting to enlist his aid in discouraging their daughter's affections for this provincial suitor. Mr. Vancour pointedly ignores his wife, far too absorbed in worldly affairs to concern himself with matters of etiquette or romance. In the background, the bemused family servant, Aunt Nantje, wisely surveys the scene.
The precise detailing of the structured, stage-like space, the theatrical use of light, the choice of brightly colored costumes, and the humorous portrayal of everyday life all reflect the influence of the seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings that had impressed Edmonds greatly during his travels on the Continent.
More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I, pages 190-196, which is available as a free PDF at https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-19th-century-part-1.pdf
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 63.2 x 76 cm (24 7/8 x 29 15/16 in.)
framed: 95.9 x 108.6 cm (37 3/4 x 42 3/4 in.) -
Accession
1978.6.4
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Purchased c. 1841-1842 from the artist by Jonathan Sturges [1802-1874], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut; his son, Frederick Sturges [1833-1917], New York, and Fairfield, Connecticut; his son, Frederick Sturges, Jr. [1874-1977], Fairfield, Connecticut;[1] gift 1978 to NGA.
[1] Letter of 18 January 1966 from Frederick Sturges, Jr. (in NGA curatorial files), provides information on the descent of the painting within the Sturges family.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1842
Seventeenth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1842, no. 214.
1844
Exhibition of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts, New York, 1844-1845, no. 52.
1988
Francis W. Edmonds: American Master in the Dutch Tradition, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; New-York Historical Society, 1988, unnumbered catalogue, pl. 5.
Bibliography
1842
"Editor's Table." Knickerbocker 19 (June 1842): 591.
"The National Academy." Brother Jonathan 2 (June 1842): 184.
"National Academy--Cutting Criticisms." New York Herald (16 June 1842).
1845
Catalogue of the Exhibition of the New-York Gallery of Fine Arts, New York, 1845: 135.
Lanman, Charles. Letters from a Landscape Painter. Boston, 1845: 240-241.
1847
Tuckerman, Henry T. Artist-Life: or, Sketches of American Painters. New York, 1847: 160.
1856
"Our Private Collections, No. II." The Crayon 3 (February 1856): 57-58.
1865
Cummings, Thomas S. Historic Annals of the National Academy of Design (1825-1863). Philadelphia, 1865. Reprint. New York, 1965: 141, 320.
1867
Tuckerman 1867, 411, 413-414, 627, as by John W. Edmonds.
1884
Lanman, Charles. "Noted Amateur Painters. Artistic Recollections by Charles Lanman." Art Union 1 (August/September 1884): 158-159.
1949
Larkin, Oliver W. Art and Life in America. New York, 1949: 220.
1966
Miller, Lillian B. Patrons and Patriotism: The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in the United States, 1700-1860. Chicago, 1966: 157.
Lawall, David B. "Asher Brown Durand: His Art and Art Theory in Relation to this Times." 4 vols. Ph.D. diss., Princeton University, 1966: 3:77, no. 88, as Rustic Lovers or the Country Cousin by Durand.
1970
Mann, Maybelle. "Francis William Edmonds: Mammon and Art." The American Art Journal 2 (Fall 1970): 99.
1974
Mann, Maybelle. "Humor and Philosophy in the Paintings of Francis William Edmonds." Antiques 106 (November 1974): 866.
1977
Mann, Maybelle. Francis William Edmonds: Mammon and Art. New York, 1977: 88, 91-92.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 152, repro.
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 14, 70, no. 16, color repro.
1981
Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 81-82, repro. 83.
Edmonds, Francis W. "'The Leading Incidents & Dates of My Life': An Autobiographical Essay by Francis W. Edmonds." The American Art Journal 13 (Autumn 1981): 10.
1982
Clark, Henry Nichols Blake. "The Impact of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Genre Painting on American Genre Painting, 1800-1865." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Delaware, Newark, 1982: 218-223, 228-229, 238, fig. 25.
Clark, Henry Nichols Blake. "A Fresh Look at the Art of Francis W. Edmonds: Dutch Sources and American Meanings." The American Art Journal 14 (Summer 1982): 78, 80, 82, 85-86, fig. 13.
1988
Clark, Henry Nichols Blake. Francis W. Edmonds: American Master in the Dutch Tradition. Exh. cat. Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; New-York Historical Society. Washington, D.C., 1988: 30, 67-71, 77, 93, 94, 97, 159, pl. 5.
Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 80, no. 17, color repro.
1989
Burns, Sarah Lea. Review of Henry Nichols Blake Clark, Francis W. Edmonds: American Master in the Dutch Tradition, Exh. cat. In Winterthur Portfolio 24 (Winter 1989): 278.
1992
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 170, repro.
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 232, repro.
1995
Morgan, Jo-Ann. "Mammy the Huckster: Selling the Old South for the New Century." American Art 9 (Spring 1995): 90-91, color 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: 190-196, color repro.
Wikidata ID
Q20186901