Liberty

c. 1800/1820

American 19th Century

Associated Names
American 19th Century

Artist

This painting shows a woman standing upright, holding a cup with a bald eagle drinking from it. She has fair skin, rosy cheeks, red lips, long curly brown hair, and is wearing a classical style gown. The gown has a blue bodice that cuts diagonally across her torso, under which is a flowing white skirt gathered at the side to reveal her leg and the lace-up sandals she wears. She holds a thin pole with an American flag hanging from it. In her other hand, she holds a white cup or bowl. A large bald eagle flies over her and dips its head down to drink from the cup. The background is brown, and it is lighter at the top of the image and darker at the bottom.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Connecticut. Purchased in 1950 by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1955.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1956

  • American Primitive Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1956, no. 31.

1957

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957.

1962

  • Exhibition of Early American Art, Academy of the Arts, Talbot County Historical Society, Easton, Maryland, 1962, no. 35.

1964

  • Man: Glory, Jest, and Riddle: A Survey of the Human Form through the Ages, M. H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1964-1965, no. 146.

1973

  • American Primitive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Holland Union, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1973, exhibition guide (copy not located).

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

1984

  • Politics in Art, Museum of the Borough of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, 1984, no. 80.

1985

  • American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, traveling exh. by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 5, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, New York.

1988

  • La Nascita di Una Nazione: Pittori americani dalla National Gallery of Art di Washington 1730-1880, Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna; Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna di Ca'Pesaro, Venice, 1988-1989, no. 5, repro.

  • A Little Bestiary: Naive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey, 1988, no catalogue.

1991

  • Zeichen der Freiheit: Das Bild der Republik in der Kunst des 16. bis 20. Jahrhunderts [Emblems of Liberty: The Image of the Republic in the Art of the 16th to the 20th Century], Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern, Switzerland, 1991, not in catalogue.

2003

  • Jefferson's America & Napoleon's France: An Exhibition for the Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, 2003, no. 146, repro.

2010

  • American Naive Paintings from the Garbisch Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, Virginia, 2010, no catalogue.

Bibliography

1958

  • Jones, Louis C. "Liberty and Considerable License." Antiques 74 (July 1958): 43.

1967

  • Fleming, E. McClung. "From Indian Princess to Greek Goddess: The American Image, 1783-1815." Winterthur Portfolio 3 (1967): 62.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 138, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 280, repro.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 526-528, color repro. 527.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 409, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20180796

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