Nicholas Mundy
Artist
Ammi Phillips
(American, 1788-1865)
CultureAmerican
Date1852
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm)
Credit LineGift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Object number78.633.9
Not on view
DescriptionOil on canvas painting of a man holding a folded newspaper in his left hand. The readable half of the folded paper spells "Tribune." The sitter, Nicholas Mundy, holds a pair of glasses in his right hand. He is wearing a black suit with black vest, a black scarf tied around his white high collared shirt.Label TextAmmi Phillips American, 1788–1865 Nicholas Mundy, 1852 Oil on canvas Compare the head and hands of this gentleman with those in the two portraits to the left. Here, wrinkles and deep shadows give individuality and character to the sitter’s face, while his fingers, actively gripping a newspaper and eyeglasses, reveal the artist’s understanding of anatomy and shading. Ammi Phillips developed this complexity over decades of working as an itinerant portraitist and sign painter in the Hudson River Valley and western Connecticut. An early example of Phillips’ work in the next gallery helps demonstrate the evolution of his skills. Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch 78.633.9 ProvenancePurchased by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1963; Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch to The Chrysler Museum of Art, 1978. Exhibition History"Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Garbisch Gallery," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., 1977. "Democratic Designs: American Folk Paintings from the Chrysler Museum," Willoughby-Baylor House, Norfolk, VA, August 16, 2014 - April 5, 2015.Published ReferencesDennis R. Anderson, "Naive Gift Grows to Unprecedented Eighty Paintings," _Chrysler Museum at Norfolk Bulletin_ 5, no. 4 (April 1976): 2, 3.
Berenice Abbott
December 8, 1936
