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James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)
Artist (1781 - 1840)
Related Person (1789 - 1851)

James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)

Date1822
DimensionsSight: 29 1/4 × 24 3/8 in. (74.3 × 61.9 cm)
Object numberN0146.1977
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Dr. Henry S. F. Cooper
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextOne of the most striking portraits of James Fenimore Cooper, this was Susan Augusta DeLancey Cooper’s favorite image of her husband. Painted in New York City in 1822, it depicts Cooper just before the success of The Spy established him as one of America’s leading authors. During the first quarter of the 19th century, John Wesley Jarvis painted many of New York’s literati. By 1822, he was at the height of his artistic prowess and was considered the foremost portrait painter in New York City. Said to be the best raconteur of his generation, the eccentric and comedic Jarvis was an early member of Cooper’s famous Bread and Cheese Club. This friendship may have inspired the portrait commission.
Exhibition History“American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 20 – April 11, 2004.
BibliographyTaylor, Alan, “Who was Elizabeth Cooper?,” in Heritage (Autumn, 1994), p. 19, ill.

Geus, Averill Dayton, From Sea to Sea 350 Years of East Hampton History (West Kennebunk, ME: Phoenix Publishing, 1999), p. 50, ill.

Pollard, Maura, “Centennial in Cooperstown,” in Colonial Homes (October/ November, 1999), p. 96, ill.

Vincent, Gilbert T., Paul D’Ambrosio, et al, A Centennial Celebration, Collections from the New York State Historical Association Cooperstown, New York (Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1999), p. 33, ill.
On View
Not on view
John Peter DeLancey (1754-1828)
John Wesley Jarvis
c. 1814
James Fenimore Cooper
Achille Devéria
1825-1835
Miniature of James Fenimore Cooper
Unidentified Artist
1810-1830
James Averell
Samuel Finley Breese Morse
1829
Mrs. James Averell
Samuel Finley Breese Morse
1829
Mrs. Thomas Fuller (1772-1851)
Samuel Finley Breese Morse
1829
James Fenimore Cooper
Pierre-Jean David D'Angers
1828

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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