Richard Mentor Johnson
1843
Painter, American, 1796 - 1865
The successful Philadelphia portrait painter John Neagle received one of the most important commissions of his career in 1842, when Whig Party members requested a full-length likeness of their presidential candidate Henry Clay (The Union League of Philadelphia). To execute the portrait, Neagle traveled to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he received additional commissions including this painting of Clay’s fellow Kentuckian Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850). Like Clay, Johnson served in both houses of Congress; he also served as the ninth Vice President of the United States in the administration of Martin Van Buren (1837 to 1841).
The son-in-law and student of Philadelphia painter Thomas Sully, Neagle displayed the same bravura brushwork as his mentor. Dazzling strokes define Johnson’s trademark red waistcoat, shiny silk cravat, ruddy complexion, and the breeze-blown gray curls that frame his pensive face. They also enliven the dense, lush trees edged in fall foliage, whose crimson color echoes that of Johnson’s vest. Neagle’s choice of a landscape background, rather than a studio setting, was relatively unusual for portraiture during this era.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 60-A
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 75.9 × 63 cm (29 7/8 × 24 13/16 in.)
framed: 101.6 × 88.3 × 9.5 cm (40 × 34 3/4 × 3 3/4 in.) -
Accession
2015.19.1
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist; (his estate sale, M. Thomas & Sons, Philadelphia, 31 March 1866). acquired before 1868 by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe [1796-1868], Washington; probably by inheritance to his second wife, Phoebe Warren Tayloe [d. 1881], Washington; gift 1878, renegotiated 1902, to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1844
Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Artists' Fund Society of Philadelphia, 1844, no. 82.
1893
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1 May - 30 October 1893, no. 2838a.
1925
Exhibition of Early American Paintings, Miniatures and Silver Assembled by the Washington Loan Exhibition Committee, National Gallery of Art (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, 5 December 1925 - 3 January 1926, no. 34.
1926
A Gallery of National Portraiture and Historic Scenes, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 13 June - 10 October 1926, no. 162.
1930
American Painting, 1700-1900, Newark Museum, 13 November 1930 - 1 February 1931, unpublished checklist.
1966
Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 April - 30 September 1966. unpublished checklist.
1971
Loan for use by the United States Embassy, Moscow, 30 October 1971 - 31 July 1972.
1976
Corcoran [The American Genuis], Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 24 January - 4 April 1976, no checklist.
2012
1812: A Nation Emerges, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 15 June 2012 - 27 January 2013.
2013
American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.
Bibliography
2011
Miles, Ellen G. "John Neagle, Richard Mentor Johnson." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 84-85, 259, repro.
Wikidata ID
Q20187081