Provenance

Thomas Benedict Clarke

American, 1848 - 1931

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This painting is a portrait of a woman. She is seated on a red chair with gold studs along its edges, positioned with her arms crossed over her lap, slightly turned to the left. The woman's facial features include a fair complexion with rosy cheeks, slightly smiling lips, and large, dark eyes. Her brown hair is curly and voluminous, adorned with a pearl band and a light blue ribbon visible towards the back. Her clothing consists of a long-sleeved white dress with a ruffled neckline, cinched in the waist by a light greenish-blue sash. The background is a plain, muted green tone, with a light color on the left indicating a partially visible door or paneling.
American 18th Century, Matilda Caroline Cruger, c. 1795, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.13

Matilda Caroline Cruger

American 18th Century · c. 1795 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.8.13

Gilbert Stuart, Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton (Mrs. William Thornton), 1804, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.26

Anna Maria Brodeau Thornton (Mrs. William Thornton)

Gilbert Stuart · 1804 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.8.26

This painting depicts a seated man at a desk. His body is facing towards the right, but his face is turned towards us; he has round facial features, gray wavy hair, and a slightly flushed complexion. He is wearing a dark blue coat with gold buttons over a white shirt. His visible hand holds a paper and rests on his desk, which is covered with more papers on top of a green tablecloth. On the desk, there is also a wooden tray with silver jars. The background is a plain olive color.
Gilbert Stuart, Richard Yates, 1793/1794, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.29

Richard Yates

Gilbert Stuart · 1793/1794 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.8.29

The image shows a portrait of a person from the upper half of their body. They are facing forward but their head is turned slightly to the side, suggesting a profile view. The person has sharp facial features, light-colored hair styled in a classic manner, and is wearing a black coat with a high collar and a white cravat. The background consists of a red drapery.
Mather Brown, William Vans Murray, 1787, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1940.1.1

William Vans Murray

Mather Brown · 1787 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1940.1.1

A light-skinned man, woman, boy, and girl, and a brown-skinned man sit and stand around a table spread with papers and a map in this horizontal portrait. The light-skinned man sits on a red upholstered chair at the table to our left, and his body faces our right in profile. His legs are crossed, and he rests his right elbow, closer to us, on the back of the chair. He has a sloping, rounded nose, dark eyes, jowls along his jawline, and his closed mouth juts forward. His left arm rests on an open pamphlet on the table next to a sword with a delicate silver hilt. To our left, the young boy stands also looks to our right in profile, next to the older man's chair. The boy wears a dusky rose-pink suit with a white lacy collar. With his right hand, he pulls back a dark green cloth covering a globe on a wooden stand along the left edge of the canvas. The woman sits at the right side of the table, across from the man. She has dark eyes, full cheeks, a double chin, and her pale lips are closed. She wears a voluminous ivory satin gown and petticoat with a black lace shawl, and an ivory cap with a satin bow covers her gray hair. She points to a spot on a map on the table with a closed fan held in her right hand. The young girl, wearing a gauzy white dress with a pine-green sash at the waist, stands on the far side of the table near the woman, holding the curling edges of the map. Behind the women, the brown-skinned man wears a rust-orange and gray uniform, and stands with one hand tucked into his vest in the shadows at the edge of the composition. His features are indistinct but he faces our left in profile. The room has a gold-and-yellow checkerboard floor, and a red cloth drapes from columns frame the scene to each side. It is unclear whether a river view at the back of the room is seen through an open window or door, or if it is a large painting behind the people.
Edward Savage, The Washington Family, 1789-1796, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1940.1.2

The Washington Family

Edward Savage · 1789-1796 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1940.1.2

This painting depicts the upper half of a woman's body. She is turned slightly to the left and faces us, with pale skin, soft, rosy cheeks, dark brown eyes, and a neutral expression. She has curly brown hair that is in an updo, with small curls framing her forehead. She is wearing a short-sleeved black dress with a square, lace-trimmed neckline, and has a bright red shawl draped over her shoulders. The background is a solid dark brown color.
Gilbert Stuart, Ann Calvert Stuart Robinson (Mrs. William Robinson), c. 1804, oil on wood, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.22

Ann Calvert Stuart Robinson (Mrs. William Robinson)

Gilbert Stuart · c. 1804 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1942.8.22

This painting is a portrait showing the upper torso and head of a man turned slightly to the right. The man is looking at us with a neutral expression. His facial features include pale skin, a high forehead, dark eyebrows, and dark hair styled with waves and curls around his temples. He is wearing a black coat over a white shirt. The shirt is adorned with a white cravat wrapped around his neck, visible above the coat's collar. The background is a brown shade, and the painting is marked with the initials "TS" and "1834" at the bottom left corner.
Thomas Sully, Francis Hopkinson, 1834, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.33

Francis Hopkinson

Thomas Sully · 1834 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.8.33

This painting is a portrait of a seated man. His body is facing the right with his head turned to us, a neutral expression on his face. The man has pale skin, rosy cheeks, bright blue eyes, thin lips, and gray hair that curls around his ears. He is dressed formally in a dark red coat with gold buttons and a white cravat at his neck, sitting in a red upholstered chair, holding a book in his right hand. The background consists of red drapery on one side and blue and yellow hues on the other, suggesting a cloudy sky.
Gilbert Stuart, William Thornton, 1804, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.25

William Thornton

Gilbert Stuart · 1804 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.8.25

The image shows a man seated, turned slightly to the left, looking directly at the viewer. He has fair skin, light-colored eyes, and dark brown wavy hair with sideburns reaching his jawline. He wears a black coat with a high collar over a white shirt. He sits near an easel with a sketch visible, holding a palette and paintbrushes in his left hand. The background has draped fabric in red or brown shades.
Jacob Eichholtz, James P. Smith, c. 1835, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1947.17.4

James P. Smith

Jacob Eichholtz · c. 1835 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1947.17.4

The painting is a portrait of a man from the waist up. He is slightly turned to the left. He has pale skin, a long nose, deep-set eyes, and thin lips set in a neutral expression. He has pale gray hair styled back from his face. He is wearing a military uniform with a dark blue coat, yellow lapels, gold buttons, and gold epaulettes. A white cravat is tied around his neck. The background is a gradient of brown and gray, darker near the edges of the painting and lighter around the man.
Rembrandt Peale, George Washington, 1859, oil on canvas, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1947.17.16

George Washington

Rembrandt Peale · 1859 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1947.17.16

Bibliography

1933

  • Coburn, F.W. "Thomas Benedict Clarke." Dictionary of American Biography XXI, supplement 1 (1944):178-179.

1970

  • Towner, Wesley. The Elegant Auctioneers. New York, 1970: 149-151.

1976

  • Weinberg, H. Barbara. "Thomas B. Clarke: Foremost Patron of American Art from 1872 to 1899." The American Art Journal VIII, No. 1 (May 1976):52-70

1993

  • Saunders, Richard H. "The Eighteenth-Century Portrait in American Culture of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries." In The Portrait in eighteenth-century America. Ed. Ellen G. Miles. Newark and London, 1993: 138-152.