John Quincy Adams

1824

Thomas Sully

Artist, American, born England, 1783 - 1872

Shown from the chest up, a light-skinned man sits angled to our right and looking off in that direction against a golden brown background in this vertical portrait painting. The man has a high forehead under a receding hairline of gray-brushed light brown hair. His right eyebrow, to our left, is slightly cocked over hazel-brown eyes. His short nose is pointed and his pink lips closed over a set jaw. Snow-white folds of his cravat tuck into his high-collared ink-black coat. The rounded lower edge of the portrait fades against the background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 61 x 51 cm (24 x 20 1/16 in.)
    framed: 80 x 69.9 x 5.4 cm (31 1/2 x 27 1/2 x 2 1/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.8.30

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Henry Clay [1777-1852], Lexington, Kentucky; his son, James B. Clay [1817-1864], Lexington, Kentucky; his son, George H. Clay, Lexington, Kentucky; purchased March 1920 by Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York; his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1924

  • Exhibition of Portraits by Early American Portrait Painters, The Union League Club, New York, February 1924, no. 4.

1928

  • Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928-1931, unnumbered and unpaginated catalogue.

1943

  • American Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1943.

1950

  • American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1950.

1951

  • American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.

1953

  • American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953.

1955

  • Famous Americans, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland, 1955, no cat.

  • American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955.

1956

  • Mr. President; A Pictorial Parade of Presidents from Washington to Eisenhower 1789-1956, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, 1956, no. 16, repro. (for the State Fair of Texas).

  • American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1956.

1964

  • [exhibition of portraits of outstanding early jurists and lawyers], Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, 1964, no cat.

  • Extended loan for use by Blair House, Washington, D.C., 1964-1970.

1970

  • The Life Portraits of John Quincy Adams, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1970-1971, no. 13.

1971

  • Extended loan for use by Blair House, Washington, D.C., 1971-1972.

1972

  • 'If Elected...' Unsuccessful Candidates for the President, 1796-1968, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1972.

1982

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Kenneth Galbraith, Paris, France, 1982-1986.

1987

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador John Shad, U.S. Embassy residence, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1987-1989.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Howard Wilkins, U.S. Embassy residence, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1989-1992.

1998

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Philip Lader, U.S. Embassy residence, London, England, 1998-2001.

2006

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Al Hoffman, U.S. Embassy residence, Lisbon, Portugal, 2006-2009.

Bibliography

1921

  • Biddle, Edward, and Mantle Fielding. The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Philadelphia, 1921: no. 7, 83.

1928

  • Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928, unnumbered.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 110, repro.

  • The Life Portraits of John Quincy Adams. Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1970: unpaginated.

  • Oliver, Andrew. Portraits of John Quincy Adams and His Wife. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970: 108-115.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 240, repro.

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: 162-165, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20184939

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