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Prior painted many images of Washington's Tomb. Washington had directed that he should be buried at Mount Vernon in the family crypt, but that was not finally completed until 1831. By the 1850s, the estate was for sale and Ann Pamela Cunningham had begun the campaign to preserve Mount Vernon for future generations. The efforts to save Washington's home undoubtedly sparked popular interest in Prior's picturesque landscape of the final resting place of our first President.
Exhibition History“Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, New York, January 24, 2013 – May 27, 2013; Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, May 26, 2012 – December 31, 2012.
BibliographyJacquelyn Oak and Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior (exh. cat. New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2012).
Artist
William Matthew Prior
(1806 - 1873)
Mount Vernon and Washington's Tomb by Moonlight
Datec. 1850-1860
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsSight: 18 3/8 × 24 1/8 in. (46.7 × 61.3 cm)
Object numberN0376.1961
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextBy the 1850s, Prior's portrait business had been seriously affected by the rise of photography. Despite his efforts to compete with the new image technology, Prior increasingly offered landscape paintings, imaginary scenes and, in the 1860s portraits of historical figures reverse-painted on glass to replace lost portrait revenue.Prior painted many images of Washington's Tomb. Washington had directed that he should be buried at Mount Vernon in the family crypt, but that was not finally completed until 1831. By the 1850s, the estate was for sale and Ann Pamela Cunningham had begun the campaign to preserve Mount Vernon for future generations. The efforts to save Washington's home undoubtedly sparked popular interest in Prior's picturesque landscape of the final resting place of our first President.
Exhibition History“Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed,” American Folk Art Museum, New York, New York, January 24, 2013 – May 27, 2013; Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, May 26, 2012 – December 31, 2012.
BibliographyJacquelyn Oak and Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior (exh. cat. New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2012).
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