Tag Archive

Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “James Dunnica”

Verso Stories: Supporting Actors

Recto and Verso The stories behind 19th century American portraits on this blog have so far spoken to the lives of people on the front of the canvas. The front of an artwork is referred to formally as “recto.” Verso” is the term for the back. The back of a painting is literally a support system. Beginning with this blog, …

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Fine Art Investigations

Researching 19th century American portraits while breaking for walks near the Pacific Ocean.

Fine Art Investigations

3 weeks ago

Apologies for long absence…health issues are now resolved but am catching up on a backlog of many months. One project is a commissioned life story of a portrait subject. She or her family touched the lives of many prominent Americans. One, was New Jersey Governor Joseph Bloomfield (1753–1823) whom Charles Willson Peale portrayed in 1777. The portrait diverges from the usual C. W. Peale depiction. At first glance, I thought one of the patriarch’s relatives was the artist, but an anecdote about the man reveals the painting to be one of Charles Willson Peale’s best in expressing character. The anecdote by Charles Biddle: “The Governor is a worthy man, but he is too much influenced by his wish to keep well with all parties. This is hardly possible to do; almost every man who attempts it is called a trimmer, and often loses his consequence with all parties.”Never having seen the word “trimmer” used in this context, I looked it up: “a person who adapts their views to the prevailing political trends for personal advancement.” From facial expression to pose, Peale visualized the definition in his portrait of Bloomfield. Charles Willson Peale, Joseph Bloomfield, 1777 Oil on Canvas, 30 x 25 inchesPrivate Collection
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Fine Art Investigations

3 weeks ago

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Fine Art Investigations

2 months ago

Before electric lighting, when rooms were illuminated by sunlight and candles, the gilded framed served a very important purpose: it was a perpetual source of light in dark interiors. The best way to make a painting glow was to surround it with a golden edge, one that could reflect and enhance whatever light was available."Deborah Davis, "The Secret Lives of Frames: One Hundred Years of Art and Artistry" (Filipacchi publishing, 2007), 24.Reverse ogee frame, ca. 1660 (Naples)Poplar, marbleized base, carved and gilded frame, 30 11/16 × 25 13/16 inchesMetropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975, 1975.1.2133Public Domain
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Fine Art Investigations

3 months ago

HAPPY CHOCOLATE DAYPerhaps art history’s most famous "Chocolate Girl"
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The Chocolate Girl – Jean-Etienne Liotard – Google Arts & Culture

artsandculture.google.com

In 1751, in a letter to his friend Jean Mariette in Paris, Count Francesco Algarotti wrote: "I bought a pastel painting that is approximately three feet hi…

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Fine Art Investigations

3 months ago

From a work in progress:Around the same time that his brother, Captain Nicholas Biddle, was smuggling Caribbean gunpowder to American patriots, Charles Biddle was smuggling gunpowder to American patriots from France. When back in Pennsylvania with his family, he was in the yard of the old State-House in Philadelphia when the Declaration of Independence was first read to the public. He wrote, “Many of the citizens who were good Whigs were much opposed to it; however, they were soon reconciled to it. Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, contributed much towards reconciling the people to the Declaration of Independence.” (1)By July 1788, ten states had ratified the Constitution. On the 4th of July, Philadelphia celebrated. Ships filled the Delaware River and at sunrise, noon, and sunset, fired their cannons. On Third Street, 5,000 government and military officials, merchants, shipmasters, mechanics, artisans, clergymen, seamen, students, foreign ministers, and citizens paraded through the streets. (2)The pictured miniature of Thomas Paine was a gift from John Trumbull to Thomas Jefferson. "Trumbull knew that Jefferson wanted a portrait of "the first public advocate of the American Revolution." (from Monticello website, Research & Education, Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia, Thomas Paine [Painting])John Trumbull, Thomas Paine, 1788 Oil on wood, 4 x 3.5 inches MonticelloPhoto by Edward Owen(1) Charles Biddle, "Autobiography of Charles Biddle: Vice-President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania: 1745-1821" (Privately printed by E. Claxton and Company, 1883), 80-86.(2) Daniel Bowen, History of Philadelphia (Printed and Published in Philadelphia by Daniel Bowen, 1836), 194.
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