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John Wesley Jarvis

Commodore John Rodgers, c. 1814

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 91.2 x 71.1 cm (35 7/8 x 28 in.)

framed: 120.7 x 100.3 x 10.8 cm (47 1/2 x 39 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Nannie R. and Christina Macomb

Accession Number

1943.14.1

Artists / Makers

John Wesley Jarvis (artist) American, 1780 - 1840

Image Use

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Provenance

Charlotte I. Bullus, New York; gift 1838 to Minerva Denison Rodgers [1784-1877], wife of the sitter, Washington, D.C.;[1] her daughter, Ann Minerva Rodgers Macomb [1824-1916], Washington, D.C.; her daughters, Nannie Rodgers Macomb [1864-1952] and Christina Livingston Macomb [-1945], Washington, D.C.;[2] gift 1943 to NGA.

[1] Correspondence relating to the gift is found in an envelope marked "Jarvis Portrait," in the Rodgers Family Papers, ser. I, cont. 17, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. None of the correspondence makes specific mention of the artist; however, in a letter of 19 November 1838, to Minerva Rodgers, Charlotte Bullus writes, "The likeness has always been considered most excellent, and being an original one, is preferable to a copy."

[2] Provenance information beginning with the ownership of Minerva Denison Rodgers was conveyed by Nannie Macomb and Christina Macomb to the Frick Art Reference Library, New York, in 1926.

Associated Names

Bullus, Charlotte I.
Macomb, Ann Rodgers
Macomb, Christina, Miss
Macomb, Nannie R., Miss
Rodgers, Minerva Denison

Exhibition History

1814: Possibly Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1814, no. 103.

1834: Possibly Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 1834, no. 132.

1925: Exhibition of Early American Paintings, Miniatures and Silver Assembled by the Washington Loan Exhibition Committee, National Gallery of Art (now Smithsonian American Art Museum), Washington, D.C., 1925-1926, no. 25.

1935: Exhibition of Portraits, Miniatures, Silver and Other Momentoes of the Rodgers Family, Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, 1935, no cat.

1940: Loan Exhibition: Naval Personages & Traditions, Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, 1940, no. 27.

1964: Loan for display in the Reception Suite, National Museum of History and Technology (now National Museum of American History), Washington, D.C., 1964-1975.

1986: Extended loan for use by the White House Preservation Office in the ceremonial office of the Vice President, Old Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., 1986-1997.

1997: Extended loan for display in the ceremonial office of Vice President Albert Gore, Jr., Old Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., 1997-2001.

2001: Extended loan for display in the ceremonial office of the Vice President, Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., 2001-2007; 2008-2009.

2012: Extended loan for display in the ceremonial office of the Vice President, Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., 2012-

Technical Summary

The original support is a heavyweight, coarsely woven fabric with an uneven, high texture. It has been lined, but cusping is present along all four cut edges. The white ground is thick and smooth with a warm pink toning layer beneath the face and sky. Subsequent paint was laid down thickly with generous and quick brushstrokes, coalescing to a finer blend in the area of the face. Only the darker regions of the composition were thinly painted. A translucent brown tone serves as a base in selected areas. Inpainting is located in the shadows of the coat and in the sky to the left of Rodgers' head. The milky varnish was unevenly applied.

Bibliography

1814: "Review of the Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Columbian Society of Artists and the Pennsylvania Academy." Port Folio 4 (July 1914): 98.

1834: "Miscellaneous Notices of the Fine Arts, Literature, Science, The Drama, Etc." American Monthly Magazine 3 (June 1834): 285.

1938: Bolton, Theodore, and George C. Groce, Jr. "John Wesley Jarvis: An Account of His Life and the First Catalogue of His Work." The Art Quarterly 1 (Autumn 1938): 317.

1949: Dickson, Harold E. John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter, 1780-1840. New York, 1949: 164, 196, 363, no. 200.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 72, repro.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 182, repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 211, repro.

1996: Kelly, Franklin, with Nicolai Cikovsky, Jr., Deborah Chotner, and John Davis. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part I. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1996: 366-368, color repro.