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The Denison Limner (Probably Joseph Steward)

Elizabeth Denison, c. 1790

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 85.4 x 67.6 cm (33 5/8 x 26 5/8 in.)

framed: 102.2 x 90.5 x 4.4 cm (40 1/4 x 35 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Accession Number

1953.5.35

Artists / Makers

The Denison Limner (painter) American, active c. 1790

Joseph Steward (painter) American, 1753 - 1822

Image Use

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Provenance

Descended from Nathaniel and Elizabeth Denison [1773-1849] Ledyard, Stonington, Connecticut;[1] their son, William Ledyard; his widow, Fanny Worthington Ledyard; Amelia Stuart Worthington; her son, Worthington Whitehouse; sold (?) to John Quinn [1870-1924], New York, by 12 December 1918.[2] Maude Wetmore, Newport, Rhode Island. (James St. Lawrence O'Toole). (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift 1953 to NGA.

[1] The provenance of this portrait suggests that its subject is Elizabeth Denison [1773-1849], the eldest child of Captain Elisha Denison and Elizabeth Noyes Denison. In 1793 the younger Elizabeth married Nathaniel Ledyard, in whose family the portrait descended.

[2] Letter dated 12 December 1918 from Worthington Whitehouse to John Quinn refers to "The portrait which you got from me..." (letter in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Garbisch, Edgar William, Mr. and Mrs.
Knoedler & Company, M.
Ledyard, Fanny Worthington
Ledyard, Nathaniel and Elizabeth Denison
Ledyard, William
O'Toole, James St. Lawrence
Quinn, John
Wetmore, Maude K., Miss
Whitehouse, Worthington
Worthington, Amelia Stuart

Exhibition History

1957: American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957, no. 15.

1958: Little-Known Connecticut Artists, 1790-1810, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, 1958 (cat. by Nina Fletcher Little) in Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin 22 (October 1957), no. 18.

1966: American Folk Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Early American Folk Arts (now Museum of American Folk Art), Time-Life Exhibit Center, New York, 1966, no cat.

1968: The American Primitive Paintings Exhibit, organized by the Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California, for de Saisset Art Gallery, University of Santa Clara, 1968.

1976: Paintings by New England Provincial Artists, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1976, no. 35 (cat. by Nina Fletcher Little).

1979: Three Centuries of Connecticut Folk Art, traveling exh. organized by Art Resources of Connecticut, 5 venues, 1979-1980, no. 110 (shown only at first venue, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1979).

1985: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, traveling exhibition by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1985-1987, no. 23, color repro. First venue: Museum of American Folk Art, N.Y.

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. 23, repro.

1993: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 1993-1994.

1993: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, Savannah, Georgia, 1993.

1994: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Heckscher Museum, Huntington, New York, 1994.

1994: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Louisiana Arts and Science Center, Baton Rouge, 1994-1995.

1995: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Boise Art Museum, Idaho, 1995.

1995: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), McKissick Museum, Columbia, South Carolina, 1995.

1995: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Pensacola Museum of Art, Florida, 1995.

1995: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), St. John's Museum of Art, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1995-1996.

1996: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainseville, 1996-1997.

1996: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1996.

1996: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California, 1996.

1996: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1996.

1997: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, 1997.

1998: American Naive Paintings from the National Gallery of Art (NGA National Lending Service exhibition), Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, Connecticut, 1998.

Bibliography

1926: Watson, Forbes. "The John Quinn Collection, Part III." The Arts 9 (February 1926): 81, 84, as Laura Dennison by Gilbert Stuart.

1966: Black, Mary, and Jean Lipman. American Folk Painting. New York, 1966: 20, 21, repro., 32.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 136, repro., as Lady with Plumed Headdress by Unknown American.

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.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 279, repro., as Lady with Plumed Headdress by Unknown American.

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

1990: Garrett, Elisabeth Donaghy. At Home: The American Family 1750-1870. repro. 263.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 157, 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: 86-88, repro. 87.

1996: American Naive Paintings: From the National Gallery of Art. American Art Review, Vol. VIII, No. 6, 1996, no. 132, repro.