Aaron Baldwin, c. 1835

Provenance

By inheritance 1862 to the sitter's daughter, Elizabeth Adelaide Baldwin Cushing [Mrs. Thomas Cushing, 1811-1879], Boston; her husband, Thomas Cushing [1814-1895], Boston; their son, Herbert Baldwin Cushing [1843-1922], Boston; his daughter, Constance Cushing Bessey, Minot, Massachusetts; gift 1945 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1948

American Paintings from the Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1948.

Technical Summary

The support is a vertically grained white poplar panel, 1.2 cm thick. It was prepared by drawing a sharp, comblike tool diagonally across the board, creating crosshatched lines. The painting has not been cradled. There is no evidence of a ground layer. The paint was generally applied wet-over-dry. Traction crackle in the head and in the waistcoat suggests artist's alterations, and x-radiography shows that the area of the shirt and stock was initially broader and the head was blocked in with off-white paint. A small gouge on the surface of the panel, to the left of the sitter's head, existed before the painting was completed. The varnish is very dull with scattered saturated, discolored patches.

Bibliography

1970

American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 10, repro.

1980

American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 19, repro.

1992

American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 21, 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: 3-4, repro. 2.

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