Captain Elisha Denison

c. 1790

The Denison Limner (Probably Joseph Steward)

Associated Names
The Denison Limner

Painter, American, active c. 1790

Joseph Steward

Painter, American, 1753 - 1822

The image shows a half-length portrait of a man seated at a table. He is positioned with his body turned slightly to the right and his head facing forward towards the viewer. The man has a fair complexion, with light facial features, including light-colored eyes and a calm expression. His hair is brown and combed back, with slight waves on the side. He is wearing a formal dark jacket with large decorative buttons, a cream-colored waistcoat, and an elaborate white cravat with ruffled edges at the neck and cuffs. In his hand, he holds a quill, poised over a sheet of paper on the table. Beside the paper, there is an inkwell and another small cylindrical container. The background features a window view of a landscape, including a tree, a body of water, and a cloudy sky, with a red curtain draped across the top. A building is partially visible on the left side of the window.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from Connecticut. Descended in the family of the sitter. (Victor Spark, New York), by whom sold in 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; by bequest to NGA, 1980.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part I, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1954, no. 20.

1955

  • American Primitive Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955 (shown only two weeks and replaced).

Bibliography

1957

  • Little, Nina Fletcher. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection. Boston and Toronto, 1957: 100-101.

1966

  • Black, Mary, and Jean Lipman. American Folk Painting. New York, 1966: 20-21.

1972

  • Schloss, Christine Skeeles. The Beardsley Limner and Some Contemporaries: Postrevolutionary Portraiture in New England, 1775-1805. Exh. cat. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Va., 1972: 36.

1981

  • Harlow, Thompson R. "The Life and Trials of Joseph Steward." Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 46 (October 1981): 111, 117, 126, 129.

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: 83, 86, color repro. 84.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 157, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20179718

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