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John Wesley Jarvis

Thomas Paine, c. 1806/1807

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 65.4 x 52.1 cm (25 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Marian B. Maurice

Accession Number

1950.15.1

Artists / Makers

John Wesley Jarvis (artist) American, 1780 - 1840

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Provenance

Christopher C. Yates [d. 1848], New York and Albany, by 1836.[1] James Ferguson [d. 1867], Albany and Washington, D.C., by 1860.[2] His wife, Amelia Ferguson, Washington, D.C. Horatio Bridge [d. 1893], Washington, D.C., and Athens, Pennsylvania, probably by 1868;[3] his wife, Charlotte M. Bridge [d. 1904], Athens, Pennsylvania; her grandniece, Marian Bridge Maurice, Athens, Pennsylvania;[4] gift 1950 to NGA.

[1] A paper label formerly affixed to the reverse of the original canvas, dated "New York Augt. 1836.," signed by "J.W. Jarvis" and "Chas. Jarvis.," and apparently in the latter's handwriting, reads: "This certifies that the portrait of the late Thomas Paine, author of the `Rights of Man' & now in the possession of Doctor Yates in this city, was painted by me ["from" crossed out] about the year 1805, and is the only original portrait of that gentleman executed in America." Harold E. Dickson, "The Jarvis Portrait of Thomas Paine,", New-York Historical Society Quarterly 34 (January 1950): 8, notes that the looped signature used by John Wesley Jarvis in his later years is consistent with this example. He accounts for Charles Wesley Jarvis' signature and role in writing the authentication with the observation that the elder Jarvis had suffered an incapacitating stroke two years earlier. His son saw to his affairs during this late period.

[2] The catalogue for the Washington Art Association Annual in 1860 lists the owner of the Jarvis portrait of Paine as "Prof. Fergerson" [sic].

[3] Amelia Ferguson, in a letter dated 30 November 1868 and sent to "Mrs. Bridge" (in NGA curatorial files), authorized the latter "to sell the portrait of Thomas Paine Esqr for any sum over $30." Bridge's husband apparently purchased the portrait instead of selling it. An unsigned, handwritten scrap of paper of uncertain provenance, sent to the NGA curatorial files in 1972 from the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, copies the inscription (see n. 1, above) and continues: "The above portrait was purchased by the late Horatio Bridge U.S.N. in Washington, D.C. about 1860 and was left by his widow to her grand niece Marian Bridge Maurice Feb. 22nd 1904 [illegible] now in her house in Athens, Penna. March 25, 1905."

[4] Letter of 11 February 1953 from Margaret Stewart Maurice (in NGA curatorial files) provides provenance information within the Bridge and Maurice families. See also the wills of Horatio and Charlotte M. Bridge, nos. 5416 and 7470, Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

Associated Names

Bridge, Charlotte M.
Bridge, Horatio
Ferguson, Amelia
Ferguson, James
Maurice, Marian B., Miss
Yates, Christopher C.

Exhibition History

1860: Washington Art Association Annual, Washington, D.C., 1860, no. 11, as by G.[sic] W. Jarvis.

1950: American Processional, 1492-1900, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1950, no. 93.

1951: American Portraits from the National Gallery of Art, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1951, no. 19 (organized by the Atlanta Art Association).

1951: They Gave us Freedom, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, 1951, no. 16.

1952: [Opening exhibition], Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1952, no. cat.

1952: Opening Exhibition of The George Thomas Hunter Gallery of Art, Chattanooga Art Association, Tennessee, 1952, unnumbered.

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

1968: This New Man: A Discourse in Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1968, p. 74.

1969: Art in Miniature [International Philatelic Exhibition in conjunction with San Diego's 200th Anniversary], San Diego Community Concourse; Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, 1969, no cat.

1975: "The Dye is Now Cast," The Road to American Independence, 1774-1776, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1975, no. 196.

1975: The Face of Liberty: Founders of the United States, Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, 1975-1976, p. 236.

1980: Loan for display with permanent collection, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1980-2000.

2005: Tom Paine: Patriot and Provocateur, New York Historical Society, 2005, no cat.

Technical Summary

The support is a medium-weight, plain-weave, closely woven fabric that has been lined. The white ground, perhaps with an additional warm pink tone applied on top of it, is of a medium thickness and is smoothly laid down. Subsequent paint was broadly and discontinuously applied, allowing the ground to show through selectively, particularly in the shaded areas of the flesh. Impasto is minimal throughout. In 1951 the painting was relined, discolored varnish was removed, and the painting was restored. The varnish has become somewhat discolored, and small areas of inpainting are apparent across the entire surface.

Bibliography

1892: Conway, Moncure Daniel. The Life of Thomas Paine. 2 vols. New York, 1892.

1912: Van der Weyde, William M. "John Wesley Jarvis." Americana 7 (July 1912): 651-652, 654.

1912: Van der Weyde, William M. "Paine's Friend J.W. Jarvis." Truth Seeker (8 April 1912): 230.

1927: Harrington, John Walker. "John Wesley Jarvis, Portraitist." American Magazine of Art 18 (November 1927): 582.

1940: Dickson, Harold E. "John Wesley Jarvis, Knickerbocker Painter." New-York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin 24 (April 1940): 64.

1949: Bement, Alon. "Some Portraits of Thomas Paine." Antiques 56 (July 1949): 34.

1949: Dickson, Harold E. John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter, 1780-1840. New York, 1949: 89, 105-106, 116, 380, no. 387.

1950: Dickson, Harold E. "An Authentic Portrait of Thomas Paine." Antiques 57 (February 1950): 115, repro.

1950: Dickson, Harold E. "The Jarvis Portrait of Thomas Paine." New-York Historical Society Quarterly 34 (January 1950): 5-11, repro. 4.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 72, repro.

1972: Ketchum, Richard M. "Men of the Revolution-VII." American Heritage 23 (October 1972): 61.

1974: Hawke, David Freeman. Paine. New York, 1974: 389.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 182, repro.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: 84, repro. 86.

1986: Zellman, Michael David, comp. American Art Analog. 3 vols. New York, 1986: 1:88, color repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 211, 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: 361-366, color repro.