John Trumbull

Lot Description John Trumbull (1756-1843) George Washington oil on canvas 29¼ x 23½ in. (74.3 x 59.7 cm.) Painted circa 1793. Provenance The artist. Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr., circa 1793. Dr. John Stoughton Wolcott, son of the above, Litchfield, Connecticut, by descent, 1833. Estate of the above. William Jay, circa 1844. Honorable John Jay II, 1858. Colonel William Jay, 1894. Mrs. Arthur Iselin, Katonah, New York, 1915. William Jay Iselin, 1953 Private collection, Missouri, circa 1990. Acquired by the present owner from the above. Literature G.C. Woodruff, letter to Secretary of the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut, February 15, 1844. G.C. Woodruff, letter to Charles Hosmer, Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut, March 13, 1844. Metropolitan Opera House, Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington, Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits and Relics, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1889, p. 3, cat. no. 1. T. Sizer, The Works of Colonel John Trumbull, Artist of the American Revolution, New Haven, Connecticut, 1967, p. 83. I.B. Jaffe, John Trumbull: Patriot-Artist of the American Revolution, New York, 1975, pp. 309-10. Exhibited New York, Metropolitan Opera House, Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington, Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits and Relics, April-May, 1889, no. 238. View Lot Notes > John Trumbull painted three known lifetime bust-length portraits of George Washington, including the present work. The other two are in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery and Harvard University Art Museums, respectively. These portraits, designated as 'civilian type' by Trumbull scholar Theodore Sizer, depict the president in a black jacket and ruffled white collar, the costume chosen for formal state occasions during his presidency. Painted around 1793, George Washington depicts the President at the beginning of his second term, after he was unanimously re-elected by the Electoral College. Trumbull was born into American politics. His father, Jonathan Trumbull, was the Governor of Connecticut and shortly after John's graduation from Harvard, he joined the army to fight in the American Revolutionary War. In 1775, Trumbull served in the Continental Army as an aide-de-camp to Washington. In 1780, Trumbull went to London to study with Benjamin West, widely considered to be the best history painter of the period. West encouraged Trumbull to paint small pictures of the American Revolution and to also try his hand at miniatures. Trumbull also traveled to Paris, where he began, at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson, to work on a painting which depicted the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Trumbull completed several major history paintings abroad, including the Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill (1786, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut). Other paintings, including The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776 (1787-1820, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut), were underway, only to be completed later. Irma Jaffe writes that, upon his return, "Trumbull was anxious to win Washington's consent to pose for the history paintings. Probably through Jonathan he was invited to dine at the President's New York home on 14 January, and the following week President and Mrs. Washington visited the artist to see his paintings. Evidently satisfied that the enthusiastic reports he had had of his former aide-de-camp were justified, Washington agreed to a first sitting." (Irma B. Jaffe, John Trumbull: Patriot-Artist of the Revolution, New York, 1975, p. 151) Trumbull was one of the few artists granted access to Washington to sit for lifetime portraits. While Gilbert Stuart's 'Athenaeum' portrait is the most commonly accepted likeness, Trumbull's sympathetic yet dignified portrayal of Washington must be considered for its authenticity, given his personal connection and profound understanding of the President's character. Trumbull is renowned as an important documentarian of early American history and his works, which combine the elements of Revolutionary history and detailed portrait painting, and helped to create the extraordinary cult of Washington extant both in Washington's lifetime and well after his death in 1799.

93. TRUMBULL, John (1756-1843) The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar in the Morning of the 27 November 1781. London: John Trumbull, Antonio de Poggi and William Sharp, January 1, 1799. Engraving by Sharp after Trumbull's 1789 painting. Sheet size: 26 x 20 1/2 in. american officer and artist john trumbull produces a masterpiece for the english taste. Trumbull served as an officer in the Continental Army (1775-1777) and was in fact imprisoned briefly in 1780 upon arriving in England to study painting, as a retaliation for the hanging of Major Andre. In order to win patronage in England, Trumbull was forced to begin widening his subject beyond documenting the war in the colonies that England had lost. He found a suitable subject in the siege of the British garrision in Gibraltar. A huge endeavor, Trumbull labored over the painting and produced what Walpole called, "the finest picture painted on the northern side of the Alps." The artist refused huge offers for the finished canvas, preferring to exhibit it privately for a fee. Finally, he commissioned William Sharp, one of the first rank of line engravers to make the print.

Portrait of Winthrop Bronson, New York, 1841, half length wearing a white stock and black jacket signed and inscribed to verso, oval, oil on canvas, 59cm x 49cm The founding partner of the. Winthrop, Stimson firm was Bronson Winthrop, a true American John Trumbull was a New York Portrait painter who travelled extensively and exhibited in England between 1784 and 1824, including sixteen times at the Royal Academy, seven times at the British Institute and else where

John Trumbull 1756-1843 PORTRAIT OF REVEREND HERMAN NORTON Inscribed on the new canvas backing REV. HERMAN NORTON/THISCANVAS WAS SIGNED ON BACK/JNO TRUMBULL 1838/ALEXANDERBOWER/PORTLAND MAINE NOV 12/37 Oil on canvas 30 x 25 inches The sitter served as pastor of the Union Presbyterian Church in NewYork City from 1830 to 1835, after which he was active as anevangelist in New Haven, where Trumbull may have painted hisportrait. It descended directly through the Norton family. Estimate $6,000-8,000

description ink and wash on paper laid down on board condition note: in fairly good condition; sheet appears slightly faded, although retention of details is very good; some soiling to surface: a few scattered, light stains, spots of foxing; edges are intact and show clearly (work was not removed from frame for examination)