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Charles Loring Elliott

Captain Warren Delano, c. 1852

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 91.9 x 72.1 cm (36 3/16 x 28 3/8 in.)

framed: 116.8 x 98.7 x 7.6 cm (46 x 38 7/8 x 3 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Frederic A. Delano

Accession Number

1942.10.1

Artists / Makers

Charles Loring Elliott (artist) American, 1812 - 1868

Image Use

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Inscription

center left: C.L.E.

Provenance

Frederic A. Delano [1811-1857], son of the sitter, New York;[1] by descent in the Delano family, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, to the grandson of the sitter, Frederic A. Delano [1863-1953], Washington, D.C.;[2] gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Frederic A. Delano, the owner of the portrait when it was exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1852, is listed in the New York City directory for 1851-1852 as a merchant living with his brother Warren Delano, Jr., at 39 Lafayette Place. Frederic and Warren were two of the sitter's nine children.

[2] Letter of 18 March 1948 (in NGA curatorial files) from the donor, Frederic A. Delano, the son of Warren Delano, Jr., gives provenance information. Mr. Delano was acting for his father's estate when the gift was made to the NGA.

Associated Names

Delano, Frederic A.
Delano, Frederic A.

Exhibition History

1852: Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1852, no. 449, as Portrait of a Gentleman.

Technical Summary

The support is a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric. It has been lined, but cusping is present along all four edges. Stenciled on the reverse of the original canvas is "WILLIAMS & STEVENS / 353 / BROADWAY / NEW-YORK."[1] The ground layer is thick, smooth, and white. Flesh tones are blended with a minimum of impasto, while the garments are painted thickly and opaquely. In the olive background, an appearance of a slight, swirling texture was created by a thin layer of glazing laid down over more thickly applied paint. Small losses and areas of inpainting occur in the sitter's hair, at his hairline, and on his coat. A tiny cut or puncture is evident in the upper left part of the background. The evenly applied varnish is heavy and has discolored.

[1] The original stencil mark, now concealed, was copied on to the reverse of the new lining fabric.

Bibliography

1852: "Exhibition of the National Academy of Design." Knickerbocker 39 (June 1852): 564.

1852: "Fine Arts." Home Journal 7 (8 May 1852): 2.

1852: "Fine Arts: The National Academy of Design." The Albion 2 (24 April/8 May 1852): 226.

1867: Tuckerman 1867, 302.

1942: Richardson, Edgar P. "Captain Warren Delano by Charles Loring Elliot." The Art Quarterly 5 (Autumn 1942): 349-351, repro. 350.

1944: Richardson, Edgar P. American Romantic Painting. New York, 1944: 15, 33, no. 130, repro.

1955: Schmidt, Philip F. "Charles Loring Elliott (1812-1868): American Portrait Painter." M.A. thesis, University of Minnesota, 1955: 39, 43, fig. 19.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 58, repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 156, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 175, 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: 225-227, color repro.