The Artist's Wife

Datec. 1815

DimensionsSight: 44 1/2 × 35 in. (113 × 88.9 cm)

Object numberN0275.1961(02)

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextThe variety of decoration included on the fancy Sheraton chairs and the expertly painted borders on the walls in these two portraits (see N0275.61(1)) suggest the work of an ornamental painter using the medium of portraiture to convey his skill and versatility with the brush. This theory may explain the differences between the two portraits in the height of the chair rail, the style of the paneling and the wall texture. The lady's right arm was originally draped over the arm of the chair, but was repositioned by the artist, perhaps to show more of the painted embellishment. These portraits clearly stand out in contrast to the more simple, straightforward likenesses of middle-class sitters commonly produced by untrained artists during this period. The bright yellow walls, the unusually large canvases, the stylish clothing of the sitters and the look of condescension and arrogance on the man's face all lend a strong sense of presence and an air of opulence to these portrait compositions.
Exhibition History“Folk Art from Cooperstown,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York, NY, March 29, 1966 – June 5, 1966.

“The Flowering of American Folk Art,” M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA, June 24, 1974 – September 15, 1974; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, April 22, 1974 – June 2, 1974; The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY, February 1, 1974 – March 24, 1974.

“Art of the Everyman: American Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum,” Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT, May 28, 2014 – September 29, 2014.
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Faces: Portraits in the New York State Historical Association, (Cooperstown, NYSHA 1987), pp. 174-177, ill. no. 113.

Agnes Halsey and Louis C. Jones, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic ([exh. cat.], Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p.13, no. 6 and 7, ill. 6 and 7.

Jean Lipman and Alice Winchester, The Flowering of American Folk Art, 1776-1876, (New York 1974), p.27, ill. no. 16 & 17.

On View

Not on view