Gilbert Stuart
American, 1755–1828
This portrait, and the companion portrait of Benjamin's wife Sarah Tappan (1983.2.1), are later versions of works that are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Stuart, who is best-known for his portraits of President George Washington, made the original works in 1814 by commission of the couple's son, Lewis Tappan. The commission is documented in diaries kept by Lewis, now in the Library of Congress, in which he notes that he paid Stuart $200.00 on November 4th, 1814, for the portraits of his parents. This second set of portraits were not documented by Lewis, but he had nine siblings, so most likely these were produced for one of them or another family member.
Benjamin Tappan was a gold- and silversmith, and a prominent member of the community in Northampton, Massachusetts.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 3, p. 40.
American, 1755–1828
Portrait of Benjamin Tappan
1814
Object Type:
Painting
Creation Place:
North America, American, Massachusetts
Dimensions:
28 5/8 in. x 23 1/4 in. (72.71 cm x 59.06 cm)
Medium and Support:
Oil on wood panel
Accession Number:
1983.0002.0002
Credit Line:
Gift of Blount, Inc.
Currently On View
This portrait, and the companion portrait of Benjamin's wife Sarah Tappan (1983.2.1), are later versions of works that are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Stuart, who is best-known for his portraits of President George Washington, made the original works in 1814 by commission of the couple's son, Lewis Tappan. The commission is documented in diaries kept by Lewis, now in the Library of Congress, in which he notes that he paid Stuart $200.00 on November 4th, 1814, for the portraits of his parents. This second set of portraits were not documented by Lewis, but he had nine siblings, so most likely these were produced for one of them or another family member.
Benjamin Tappan was a gold- and silversmith, and a prominent member of the community in Northampton, Massachusetts.
American Paintings from the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 2006, cat. no. 3, p. 40.
Keywords
Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
Related Objects
Click a record to view
Portrait of Sarah Homes Tappan
1983.0002.0001
Portfolio List
Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Your current search criteria is: All Object records.