Chief Justice Nelson

Date1838

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsSight: 33 3/8 × 26 1/4 in. (84.8 × 66.7 cm)

Object numberN0091.1973

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Museum Purchase

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextSamuel Nelson had this portrait painted while he was Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. In contrast to Samuel F. B. Morse's earlier portrait of Nelson, Henry Inman gave a quality of softness and elegance to his sitter. One of the foremost portrait painters in America between 1820 and 1846, Inman worked in the tradition of Gilbert Stuart, idealizing his images. Inman was an active participant in the intellectual and artistic life in New York. He was a member of James Fenimore Cooper's Bread and Cheese Club and made early illustrations of Cooper's works.
BibliographyKornhauser, Elizabeth Mankin, American Paintings Before 1945 in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Vol. 2 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996), pg. 485-486

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