Henry Clay

1821

Charles Bird King

Associated Names
Charles Bird King

Painter, American, 1785 - 1862

This painting shows a man seated behind a table, his torso facing us and his head slightly turned to the right. He has a fair complexion, a strong brow, and pink lips in a slight smile. His short brown hair falls across his forehead in loose waves. He is dressed in a black coat with gold buttons over a white vest and a high-necked white cravat. His right hand is holding a long piece of paper with lines of writing on it. The end of the paper rests on the table in front of him. His left hand is also on the table, pointing to the paper. The table is covered with red cloth, and on it is a silver inkwell and a feather quill. The background is in shades of brown, with a hint of red near the upper left corner, perhaps suggesting draped fabric.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

John Cranch [1807-1891], Urbana, Ohio;[1] purchased 9 May 1981 by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Cranch was an American painter and print collector.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1916

  • Loan for display at the National Cathedral School for Girls, Washington, 1916-1942.

1966

  • Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, April - September 1966, unpublished checklist.

1973

  • Loan for display at the U.S. Department of State, Washington, 1973.

1977

  • The Paintings of Charles Bird King (1785-1862), National Collection of Fine Arts (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, 4 November 1977 - 22 January 1978, no. 47, repro.

1993

  • Messengers of Style: Itinerancy and Taste in Southern Portraiture, 1790-1861, Greenville County Museum of Art, 19 January - 7 March 1993.

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. 11.

2007

  • Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, 1763-1848, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 27 September 2007 - 10 February 2008, no. 56, repro.

2008

  • The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1 March - 27 July 2008, unpublished checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013 - 28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

2017

  • Extended loan for use by Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., 2017-2018.

Bibliography

1966

  • Phillips, Dorothy W. A Catalogue of the Collection of American Paintings in The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Vol. 1: Painters born before 1850. Washington, 1966: 50, repro.

2011

  • Cash, Sarah, ed. Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Washington, 2011: 305, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46626676

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