Throwback 2019-2020 Lecture Series - The Final Part!

Our last lecture of the 2019-2020 season was held on March 10^th, very close to the shutdown of everything in the state and country. It was still a wonderful show of support from our members, who enjoyed a great presentation by Saratoga National Park Ranger, Eric Schnitzer on portraying Catherine Schuyler. 

Using this painting of General Philip Schuyler’s wife, he explored how art pieces were produced in this era. Painted by travelling artist Thomas McIlworth (fl. 1757-1768) in ca. 1765, it has elements that are noticeably familiar looking to other portraits of this time. Some myths have developed about the nature of travelling artists of this time that might misled interpreting how this portrait’s familiar traits would’ve showed up. Was it because these artists would have model bodies already drawn that they would then draw their patron’s heads on so as to make these pieces as quickly as possible? 

Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site

Artists would start with the face and then flesh out the body of their patron. There aren’t many examples of the process of making these sorts of artworks – supplies are also money and artists reused what they could whenever they could, and personal techniques weren’t always meticulously written down. 

But, the few examples that have been preserved, drawing the face was the first step. There are instances of artworks that show disproportioned figures, which could easily give the impression that this myth was true when looking at figures with either too large or too small heads. 

Aside from the artist having a bad day, often their patrons had specific features they wanted to highlight that would cause the artists to get creative with what progress they had been making on their painting. 

An example used in this presentation is the portrait of Colonel John Cox (1778) that was painted by Charles Wilson Peale, which portrays a bit of a bobble-head-like appearance that is likely due to the Colonel’s desire to include his shoulders and therefore the uniform feature that highlighted his military rank. 

It was important to keep the customer happy for obvious reasons, but also because many artists were commissioned for a variety of projects and would make house calls rather than the concept of a studio – it’s unknown if McIlworth would have had a card to advertise or ever took out an ad in a local newspaper, but word of mouth definitely was something he and many others utilized. 

But if these similarities weren’t the product of pre-made portraits just waiting for a face, why were there so many similar features? It’s not as complicated as you may think – you need only look at the latest trend of TikTok dances.

Many well-off patrons who could afford to have a private portrait like the Schuylers that wanted to highlight their best features also want to emulate those trend-setters with many other women seen in a similar style dress and pose. Those business cards often had prints of certain portraits to promote the style as something they could recreate with their patron as their focus. 

These body templates were then customized. Catherine Schuyler was influenced by the portrait of Lady Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess of Hamilton that was created in 1751 by James McArdell. You can very clearly see the similarities in pose, the style of dress, and the obvious imitation of the flower arrangement worn by both women in their portraits.

But there is one feature that stands out from all the other women in this pose and similar-style dress – apparently she had strabismus, also known as lazy eye or wall eye. 

It’s not sure if this was an instance of how the artist drew eyes (there are a few other portraits) or if this was true to her appearance. Either way, this portrait would have had a place of prominence and serves as a way to preserve history.

Many small museums are suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown and WHMCC is no different with the postponement of our exhibit spaces and the cancellation of much-needed and relied upon fundraising programs and special events. We would love to invite you to consider supporting the museum or take part in the many volunteer opportunities at the museum - WHMCC is not tax-funded or guaranteed funds from any municipality and is run primarily by a volunteer board and its one part-time staff. 

Any help is always appreciated, like attended these fun programs and events. While we don't know when exactly we'll be able to get back to "normal" and offer exhibits and events during the 2020 summer season, the museum hopes to see everyone again soon!