Lucy Tappan Bowen (Mrs. Henry C. Bowen), 1859

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall (oval): 142.7 x 111.4 cm (56 3/16 x 43 7/8 in.)

framed: 179.1 x 147.3 x 11.4 cm (70 1/2 x 58 x 4 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Lady Vereker

Accession Number

1961.10.1

Artists / Makers

Francis Bicknell Carpenter (artist) American, 1830 - 1900

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

center left: F.B. Carpenter / 1859.

Provenance

The sitter's husband, Henry C. Bowen [1813-1896], New York, and Woodstock, Connecticut; his son, Clarence Winthrop Bowen [1852-1935], New York, and Woodstock, Connecticut; his daughter, Roxana Wentworth Bowen [later Mrs. William Stephen Van Rensselaer and Lady Gordon Vereker, 1895-1968], Valbonne, France; gift 1961 to NGA.

Associated Names

Bowen, Clarence Winthrop
Bowen, Henry C.
Vereker, Roxana Wentworth, Lady

Exhibition History

1860: Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1860, no. 197, as A Lady.

1862: The Third [annual] Exhibition, Brooklyn Art Association, March 1862, no. 113, as Portrait.

Technical Summary

The support consists of a fine, tightly woven twill fabric that has been lined. The four-member oval stretcher with four vertical mortise-and-tenon joins appears to be original. There is a white ground of medium thickness. Paint was applied in a straightforward manner; highlights were done with impasto and slight glazing used for shadows. Brushwork is visible in the modeling of some of the draperies, but other areas, such as the sitter's bare shoulders and the bodice of her dress, were painted in an extremely thin manner. Although no major losses are present, damage to the paint layer has occurred along much of the edge and under the rabbet, and excessive wear is apparent in the area of the sitter's upper torso. The varnish has discolored considerably, and there are extensive residues of heavily discolored varnish.

Bibliography

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 20, repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 32, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 37, 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: 49-51, color repro.