See parts 1-12 also for earlier works.
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This is part 13 of a 21-part post on American Folk Art:
Erastus
Salisbury Field (1805-1900)
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| Erastus Salisbury Field, 1840s. Daguerrotype coloured by the artist |
Erastus
Salisbury Field and his twin sister, Salome, were born in Leverett,
Massachusetts, on 19 May 1805. Erastus Field showed an early talent for
sketching portraits, and in 1824 the aspiring artist travelled to New York City
to study with Samuel F. B. Morse. Field's instruction was cut short by the
death of Morse's wife in 1825, and it is not evident what Field learned. In
1831 he married Phebe Gilmur in Ware, Massachusetts, and their only child was
born the next year. His career apparently prospered during the 1830s, for the
artist produced a multitude of rapidly executed portraits, often completed in
one day, which commanded fair prices. Field's best portraits date from around
1836 - the year he returned to Leverett from Ware - to about 1840.
After
traveling to Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1839, the artist and his wife moved back
to Ware, Massachusetts. By 1841, however, they were in New York City. Field
remained there for about seven years and exhibited several works. In 1848 he
was called home to manage his father's farm in Sunderland, Massachusetts, and a
newspaper account reported that he remained there for "some four years in
the practice of his art." By around 1847 Field had begun executing
landscape and history paintings, perhaps because the daguerreotype, introduced
in America in 1839, was beginning to replace painted portraits. Always
resourceful, however, Field took advantage of the camera, using it to make
photographs of his sitters, which he would later copy on canvas.
Between 1852
and his wife's death in 1859, Field moved frequently between Sunderland,
Palmer, and North Amherst, Massachusetts. When Phebe Field died, the artist and
his daughter moved to Plumtrees, a settlement now in Sunderland that was
occupied by the Cooley and Hubbard families, whom Field had known since
childhood. Field, who would spend the rest of his life there, built a modest
studio and painted some elaborate compositions of exotic landscapes and
biblical scenes, relying on his imagination as well as on printed illustrations
by artists such as John Martin.
Field died at
Plumtrees in 1900, leaving a legacy of over three hundred paintings attributed
to his hand. Just before his death a newspaper article praised his portraits,
saying that they were "as nearly correct as can well be made in oil, and
give to posterity faithful ideas of the personal appearance of their
ancestors." Field's career exemplified that of the enterprising itinerant
who created distinctive, quickly executed yet insightful likenesses to meet the
growing demands of America's middle-class patrons.
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| 1825-50c Portrait of a Woman with a Shawl oil on canvas 89.5 x 66 cm Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1825c Elizabeth Billings Ashley oil on canvas 62.2 x 57.1 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1829c Gentleman of Squire Williams House oil on canvas 81.3 x 61.6 cm Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1829c Lady of Squire Williams House oil on canvas 81.3 x 61.6 cm Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC |
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| 1829c Mary Werner Bangs oil on canvas 149.2 x 76.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
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| 1830c Dwarfed Boy in Red Dress Holding Rattle oil on canvas 30.5 x 22.9 cm Private Collection |
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| 1830c Julia Tuttle Bangs oil on canvas |
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| 1830c Phineas Field ( younger brother of the artist ) oil on canvas 80 x 67.3 cm Private Collection |
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| 1830c Portrait of a Young Lady oil on canvas 30.5 x 22.9 cm Portland Art Museum, Oregon |
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| 1833-34 Augusta Mason Doten oil on canvas 86.7 x 69.2 cm Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama |
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| 1833c Elizabeth Camilla Jillson oil on canvas 121.9 x 73.7 cm Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT |
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| 1833c Harriet Sophia Jones oil on canvas 111.8 x 72.4 cm Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA |
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| 1835 Portrait of Sarah Elizabeth Ball oil on canvas Joseph Allen Skinner Museum, Mt Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA |
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| 1835 Thankful Field oil on canvas 79.4 x 65.1 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1835-38 Mrs. Paul Smith Palmer and Her Twins oil on canvas 97.8 x 86.3 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1835-38 Paul Smith Palmer oil on canvas 86.4 x 73.4 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1835-38c Man Holding a Quill oil on canvas 76.2 x 66 cm Folk Art Museum, New York City |
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| 1835-38c Woman Holding Red Book oil on canvas 76.2 x 66 cm Folk Art Museum, New York City |
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| 1835c Woman Holding a Book oil on canvas 75.7 x 60.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1835c Young Girl in Pink Dress oil on canvas 86.4 x 66 cm Private Collection |
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| 1836 Austin Marsh oil on canvas Private Collection |
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| 1836 Henry Carlton Hulbert oil on canvas 75.6 x 64.8 cm Private Collection |
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| 1836 Maryette Field Marsh oil on canvas 88.9 x 73.7 cm National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC |
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| 1836 Nathaniel Bassett oil on canvas 88.9 x 72.7 cm Smith College of Art, Northampton, MA |
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| 1836c Amos Geer Hulbert oil on canvas 87 x 73.7 cm Private Collection |
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| 1836c Bethiah Smith Bassett oil on canvas 88.9 x 73.3 cm Smith College of Art, Northampton, MA |
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| 1836c Henry Thomas Robbins oil on canvas 87 x 81.92 cm Private Collection |
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| 1837 Dolly Floyd Wiley oil on canvas 88.9 x 73.7 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1837 Eleazer Cowles oil on canvas 76.5 x 66.4 cm Worcester Art Museum, MA |
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| 1837 Loisa Cowles oil on canvas 76.5 x 66.4 cm Worcester Art Museum, MA |
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| 1837 Maria Cowles oil on canvas 76.5 x 66.4 cm Worcester Art Museum, MA |
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| 1838 Josiah Goddard oil on canvas Brown University Portrait Collection, Providence, RI |
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| 1838 Lucy H. Mills Ball oil on canvas 103.5 x 92.1 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1838 Mr. Pearce oil on canvas 76.2 x 66 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre, Williamsburg, VA |
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| 1838 Mrs. Pearce oil on canvas 76.2 x 66 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre, Williamsburg, VA |
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| 1838 Reverend Dyer Ball oil on canvas 13.5 x 92.1 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1838 Woman with a Green Book oil on canvas 88.9 x 74.3 cm Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1838-39c Portrait of a Young Man oil on canvas 74.9 x 63.5 cm Folk Art Museum, New York City |
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| 1838c ( attributed to ) Josiah B. Woods Jr. ( posthumous portrait ) oil on linen 129.5 x 81.9 cm Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ |
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| 1838c Man with a Tune Book: Possibly Mr. Cook oil on canvas 89.1 x 73.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1838c Sarah Elizabeth Ball oil on canvas 89.2 74.3 cm Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA |
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| 1839c Joseph Moore and His Family oil on canvas 209.2 x 237.2 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA |
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| 1839c Louisa ( Clarissa? ) Gallond Cook oil on canvas 86.4 x 71.1 cm Shelburne Museum, VT |
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| 1840-49c Julius Norton oil on canvas 88.9 x 73.7 cm Bennington Museum, VT |
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| 1844c The Embarkation of Ulysses oil on canvas 87.6 x 115.6 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1845c Margaret Gilmore oil on canvas 137.5 x 86.7 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA |
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| 1848c Girl of the Bangs-Phelps Family oil on canvas 149.2 x 76.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
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| n.d. Susanne Tilinghast of Connecticut oil on canvas 73.7 x 64.1 cm Private Collection |
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| 1850c The Taj Mahal oil on canvas 61.6 x 86.7 cm Flint Institute of Arts, MI |
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| 1855c Rattlesnake Gutter oil on canvas 109.2 x 94 cm Private Collection |
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| 1860-1880c The Taj Mahal oil on canvas 88.7 x 116.7 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1860c The Garden of Eden oil on canvas 63.5 x 105.4 cm Shelburne Museum, VT |
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| 1860c The Garden of Eden oil on canvas 88.3 x 116.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1865-80 Egyptian Scene ( possibly Moses and Zipporah ) oil on canvas 88.9 x 116.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
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| 1865-80c "He Turned Their Waters into Blood" oil on canvas 76.5 x 102.9 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1865-80c Burial of the First Born of Egypt oil on canvas 84.5 x 99.7 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1865-80c Death of the First Born oil on canvas 88.6 x 88.9 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre, Williamsburg, VA |
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| 1865-80c Death of the First Born oil on canvas 88.9 x 116.8 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
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| 1865-80c The Last Supper oil on canvas 88.9 x 116.8 cm Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA |
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| 1865-1880c Ark of the Covenant oil on canvas 50.8 x 61.3 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1865-1880c Pharaoh's Army Marching oil on canvas 89 x 116.8 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| 1867c Historical Monument of the American Republic oil on canvas 281.9 x 398.8 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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| 1869 The Fairy Grotto oil on canvas 71.1 x 101.6 cm Private Collection |
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| 1881 Lincoln with Washington and His Generals oil on canvas 81.3 x 100.3 cm Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA |
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