Ann Van Lew

Date1843

MediumWatercolor with glazed highlights and ink on heavy wove paper

DimensionsSight: 9 1/2 × 7 3/8 in. (24.1 × 18.7 cm)

Object numberN0210.1970

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Albert Force

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextThis likeness of Ann E. Van Lew was copied by Henry Walton after a portrait of the subject rendered about 1837 when Anna was thirty-one years old. Anna Elizabeth Couch Van Lew was born on August 18, 1804, and was the daughter of Adam Couch. On December 30, 1829, she married Peter Van Lew of Lodi, New York, who was a tavern and mill owner. Anna died on April 17, 1841, seven days after the birth of her third son. In 1843, Walton drew this posthumous portrait of Anna and a portrait of Peter's second wife, Fanny. While Walton often varied his compositions and poses, the likenesses of the two Van Lew wives are virtually identical, with only their facial features differentiated.

Exhibition History“Henry Walton, 19th Century American Artist,” Ithaca College Museum of Art, Ithaca, NY, December 9, 1968 – January 4, 1969; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Ithaca, NY, May 10, 1988 – June 26, 1988; Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA, July 3, 1988 – October 26, 1988; New York State Museum, Albany, NY, November 12, 1988 – January 29. 1989.
ProvenanceAlbert W. Force, Ithaca, New York
BibliographyPaul S. D'Ambrosio and Charlotte M. Emans, Folk Art's Many Face: Portraits in New York State Historical Association, (New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, New York, 1987), pp. 155-156, fig. 96, p. 156.

Leigh Rehner, Henry Walton, 19th Century American Artist, (exh. cat. Ithaca, NY: Ithaca College Museum of Art, 1968), , p. 41. ill. 43.

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