Collection Online as of March 29, 2023

Portrait of Jean Terford David

1813

Part of a set. See all set records

Thomas Sully

(American, 1783–1872)

America, 19th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 122 x 103 x 10 cm (48 1/16 x 40 9/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 89.5 x 70.5 cm (35 1/4 x 27 3/4 in.)

Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1916.1979.1

Location

205 Federal American

Fun Fact

Sully's working motto was "flattery--nothing so sure of success as flattering your portraits."

Description

According to his own inventory, the astonishingly productive Sully painted more than 2,600 works during his career. Most of these paintings were commissioned portraits, including this one of John Terford David, who had just recently married. French-born David was an American officer who served as a paymaster during the War of 1812. His rank is indicated by the fringed epaulet on his left shoulder and the lack of one on his right. In composing the portrait, Sully ingeniously positioned David's body on an angle to emphasize the single epaulet and downplay the uniform's lack of symmetry.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed lower right: "TS 1813 [TS in monogram]"

Provenance

Family of the sitter; John Foster Jenkins, Yonkers, NY; The Cleveland Museum of Art (1916)

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 534 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 200 archive.org

Exhibition history

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of the Inaugural Exhibition (6 June-20 September, 1916), no. 156.

Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition of Portraits by Thomas Sully (1922), pp. 5-7, cat. no. 71, illus. p. 49.

The Cleveland Museum of Art, 20th Anniversary Exhibition (26 June-4 October, 1936), p. 29, no. 48.

Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The World of the Romantic Artist: A Survey of American Culture from 1800 to 1875 (28 December, 1944-28 January, 1945), no. 5, ill. p. 8; cat. p. 8-10.

Saginaw, Michigan, The Saginaw Museum, An Exhibition of American Paintings from Colonial Times until Today (10 January-15 February, 1948), p. 22, illus. no. 57, plate III.

The Art Institute of Chicago, From Colony to Nation: An Exhibition of American Painting Silver and Architecture from 1650 to the War of 1812 (21 April-19 June, 1949), p. 73, cat. no. 117.

New York, The National Academy of Design, A Century and a Half of American Art (10 October-16 November, 1975), p. 118, illus. p. 117.

Washington D.C., The National Portrait Gallery, Mr. Sully, Portrait Painter (3 June-5 September, 1983), p. 59, cat. no. 18, illus. p. 58.

Milwaukee Art Museum, WI (10/11/2013 - 1/5/2014) and San Antonio Museum of Art, TX (2/7/20114 - 5/11/2014): "Thomas Sully: Painted Performance", cat. no. 9, p. 104.

Inaugural Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 6-September 20, 1916).

A Century and a Half of American Art. National Academy of Design Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY (organizer) (October 15-November 30, 1975).

Thomas Sully: Painted Performance. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI (organizer) (October 11, 2013-January 5, 2014); San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX (February 7-May 11, 2014).