The House of Representatives
1822, probably reworked 1823
Painter, American, 1791 - 1872

With this monumental painting, Samuel F. B. Morse wanted to glorify US democracy in action. He depicts the grand House of Representatives chamber glowing in lamplight before an evening session.
The artist spent four months in Washington painting the individuals seen here: congressmen, staff, Supreme Court justices, and press. At the far right in the visitors’ gallery is Chief Petalesharo (Pawnee Nation), who visited President James Monroe in 1821. Petalesharo is isolated from the other figures, echoing the oppression and displacement of Native Americans. Morse toured the painting in 1823, but it did not draw much attention. He went on to pursue scientific interests, becoming famous as the primary inventor of the telegraph.

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 62
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 220.7 × 331.8 cm (86 7/8 × 130 5/8 in.)
framed: 256.5 × 363.2 × 10.5 cm (101 × 143 × 4 1/8 in.) -
Accession
2014.79.27
More About this Artwork

Article: Ten Artworks to Understand Early United States History
From the Native peoples lobbying to keep their homelands to immigrants facing challenges in their new home, works from our collection help us understand our nation’s beginnings.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Acquired from the artist by 1828 by Charles Robert Leslie [1794-1859], London; sold c. September 1839 to Sherman Converse [1790-1873], New Haven. (Coates and Company, New York), in 1847. W.C. Annan, Esq, San Francisco, by 1857.[1] Joseph Ripley, in 1858. Purchased by Daniel Huntington [1816-1906], New York, by 1873; purchased from his estate 17 June 1911 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] The 1857 annual report of the Mercantile Library Association of San Francisco refers to “the large and valuable picture representing the interior of the United States House of Representatives” by Morse that was deposited by Annan to adorn the association’s suite of rented rooms (see bibliography).This information was kindly provided by Paul D. Schweizer, Museum Director Emeritus of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica (see e-mail of 6 January 2022, in NGA curatorial files).
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1823
New Haven, Connecticut, early February 1823.
David Doggett's Repository, Boston, February-April 1823.
Essex Coffee House, Salem, Massachusetts, May 1823.
Morse's Popular Picture of the Hall of the House of Representatives, 146 Fulton Street near Broadway, New York, May-July 1823.
Albany, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; Middletown, Connecticut, Fall 1823.
Possibly Springfield and Northampton, Massachusetts, 1823.
1825
American Academy of Fine Arts, New York, 1825, no. 4, as Hall of the House of Representatives, Washington City, preparing for an evening session.
1827
Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1827, no. 51, as House of Representatives in the capitol at Washington, containing 88 portraits of distinguished characters.
1828
Peale's Gallery of the Fine Arts, Albany, 1828, no. 23, as The Celebrated Picture of the House of Representatives.
1868
Second Winter Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1868-1869, no. 178, as The House of Representatives in Washington, in 1823.
1932
Samuel F.B. Morse: American Painter, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1932, unnumbered catalogue.
1939
Life in America: A Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings Held During the Period of the New York World's Fair, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1939, no. 72.
1950
American Processional, 1492-1900, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1950, no. 116.
1959
Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
1960
American Painters of the South, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1960, no. 82, cover repro.
1970
Nineteenth-Century America: Paintings and Sculpture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1970, no. 28.
Loan to display with permanent collection, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 1970-1971.
1976
Corcoran [The American Genius]. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1976, unnumbered catalogue.
1980
La Pintura de los Estados Unidos de Museos de la Ciudad de Washington [Painting in the United States from Public Collections in Washington], Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1980-1981, no. 7.
1993
The Century Club Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1993, unpublished checklist.
2004
Figuratively Speaking: The Human Form in American Art, 1770-1950, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, unpublished checklist.
2005
Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 13.
2008
The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.
2009
American Paintings from the Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 6 June-18 October 2009, unpublished checklist.
2013
American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.
Bibliography
1857
Woodworth, Frederick A. Fourth Annual Report of the President of the Mercantile Library Association of San Francisco, with a List of the Officers for 1857-58. San Francisco, 1857: 11.
1879
Clement, Clara Erskine, and Laurence Hutton. Artists of the Nineteenth Century and their Works: a handbook containing two thousand and fifty biographical sketches. Vol. II. Boston, 1879: 133.
1947
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Handbook of the American Paintings in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1947: 26, as The Old House of Representatives.
1959
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1959: 47, repro.
1992
Gerdts, William et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France 1865-1915. Exh. cat. Musée Américain Giverny, 1992: 126-127, fig. 115.
2011
Staiti, Paul. "Samuel Finley Breese Morse, The House of Representatives." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 36, 70-73, 257, repro.
2015
Raab, Jennifer. "Mapping History." American Art 29, no. 2 (Summer 2015): 19-27, color figs. 1, 3 (detail).
Inscriptions
lower left: S.F.B. MORSE. pinx / 1822
Wikidata ID
Q20184686