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Daniel Huntington

Henry Theodore Tuckerman, 1866

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 68.2 x 56.2 cm (26 7/8 x 22 1/8 in.)

framed: 80.3 x 70.2 x 6.7 cm (31 5/8 x 27 5/8 x 2 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Andrew W. Mellon Collection

Accession Number

1947.17.7

Artists / Makers

Daniel Huntington (artist) American, 1816 - 1906

Image Use

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Inscription

lower left: D. Huntington / 1866; possibly in a different hand, on back of stretcher: Henry J (sic). Tuckerman by D. Huntington 1866.

Provenance

The artist, New York; his estate, in 1908.[1] George D. Smith.[2] (sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 26 November 1920, no. 84); Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[3] his estate; sold as part of the Clarke collection 29 January 1936, through (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1947 to NGA.

[1] Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Daniel Huntington, N.A., Exh. cat. Century Association, New York, 1908: 7.

[2] Anna Wells Rutledge and James W. Lane ("110 Paintings in the Clarke Collection," typescript, 1952: 125, copy in NGA curatorial files) note that Knoedler & Co. records listed "George D. Smith" as a previous owner, without providing further details or dates.

[3] The name of the auction house and the date of the purchase by Clarke are recorded in a copy of Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries Collected by Thomas B. Clarke (Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928) annotated with information from files of M. Knoedler & Co., NY (copy in NGA curatorial records and in NGA library).

Associated Names

American Art Association
Clarke, Thomas Benedict
Huntington, Daniel
Knoedler & Company, M.
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, The A.W.
Smith, George D.

Exhibition History

1867: Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1867, no. 347.

1867: Oil Paintings on Exhibition at Providence Horse Guards Armory (late Westminster Hall), under the Auspices of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, 1867, no. 114.

1867: Utica Art Association Annual, New York, 1867, no. 54.

1872: First Chronological Exhibition of American Art, Brooklyn Art Association, New York, 1872, no. 68.

1877: Brooklyn Art Association Annual, 1877, no. 436, as Portrait.

1908: Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Daniel Huntington, N.A., Century Association, New York, 1908, no. 51.

1924: Exhibition of Portraits by Early American Portrait Painters, The Union League Club, New York, February 1924, no. 7.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928-1931, unnumbered and unpaginated catalogue.

1950: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1950.

1951: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1951.

1953: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953.

1955: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955.

1956: American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1956.

1967: Loan for display with permanent collection, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1967-2000.

Technical Summary

The support is a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric, unlined and attached with tacks to the original four-member, half-mitered half-slip-joined stretcher. Stenciled on the reverse of the canvas is "GOUPILS / 772 / BROADWAY." The off-white ground is thin and smooth. The paint was largely applied with a wet-into-wet technique in fairly free strokes. The painting is in fair condition, with little inpainting, and there are minor tears scattered at the tacking edges. At the lower center the tacking edge is missing. The painting is attached to the stretcher at this spot with three tacks going through the front of the canvas. There is also a mended tear at lower center. The varnish has become extremely discolored. /ACC 1947.17.73 The support is a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric that remains unlined and on its original four-member, mortise-and-open-slotted stretcher. The ground is thin, uniform, and white. The paint was applied thinly and fluidly, with considerable use of a dark red glaze over a brighter red color in the dress and chair upholstery. A slight pentimento indicates a change in the right contour of the sitter's face. Infrared reflectography reveals extensive, varied, and detailed underdrawing, particularly in the face and hands. Inpainting is minimal. The varnish has become moderately discolored. /ACC 1947.17.8 The support is a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric that has been lined. Cusping is present along all four of the cut edges. Stenciled on the reverse of the original fabric is "PREPARED BY / EDWARD DECHAUX / NEW YORK."[1] The ground appears to be white and smoothly applied. It is entirely covered by subsequent layers of paint. Finely brushed underdrawing is visible throughout the face, with paint generally applied wet-over-dry. A horizontal tear (about 24 cm long) above the head has been repaired. The varnish is very thick and has become somewhat discolored.

[1] The stencil mark in now concealed by the lining, but it has been traced onto the reverse of the new fabric. Edward Dechaux is listed as a seller of artist's materials in New Your directories from 1835 to 1865; see Katlan 1987, 78.

Bibliography

1867: "Art Matters. National Academy of Design." The American Art Journal 7 (4 May 1867): 22.

1867: "Fine Arts. Exhibition of the National Academy of Design." The Albion 45 (20 April 1867): 189.

1868: "Our Artists. I. The President of the Academy." Putnam's Magazine 1 (March 1868): 374.

1872: "Art Gossip." New York Evening Mail (1 April 1872).

1877: "The Brooklyn Art Association." New York Evening Post (23 April 1877).

1914: Tuckerman, Bayard. Notes on the Tuckerman Family of Massachusetts and Some Allied Families. Boston, 1914: 175.

1928: Portraits by Early American Artists of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Collected by Thomas B. Clarke. Exh. cat. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1928, unnumbered.

1952: Rutledge and Lane 1952, 125.

1969: Flexner, James Thomas. "Tuckerman's Book of the Artists." The American Art Journal 1 (Fall 1969): repro. 57.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 70, repro.

1970: Marlor, Clark S. A History of the Brooklyn Art Association with an Index of Exhibitions. New York, 1970: repro., n.p.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 179, repro.

1983: Nearpass, Kate. "The First Chronological Exhibition of American Art, 1872." Archives of American Art Journal 23 (1983): 24, repro.

1984: Johns, Elizabeth. "Histories of American Art: The Changing Quest." Art Journal 44 (Winter 1984): repro. 339.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 208, 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: 339-341, color repro.