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Catalog Data

Artist:
Jacob Eichholtz, born Lancaster, PA 1776-died Lancaster, PA 1842  Search this
Sitter:
unidentified  Search this
Medium:
oil on wood
Dimensions:
10 x 7 3/4 in. (25.3 x 19.7 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
ca. 1809
Luce Center Label:
Portrait of a Man and Portrait of a Woman were painted to hang as a pair, the two sitters facing one another as husband and wife. The profile was a common portrait style in America’s first decades, and these paintings show the softer line and naturalistic modeling that Jacob Eichholtz favored in his later profile portraits. Eichholtz was a savvy businessman. He ran a smithing business and charged the same amount for framed portraits as he did for copper teakettles or lanterns, making the portraits as affordable as other essential household items. From 1801 until 1811, he produced many profiles and sold them for such a fair price that he became the leading portraitist in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Ryan, The Worlds of Jacob Eichholtz: Portrait Painter of the Early Republic, 2003).
Luce Object Quote:
“Part of the day I wrought as a coppersmith, the other part as a painter.” Jacob Eichholtz, in Ryan, The Worlds of Jacob Eichholtz: Portrait Painter of the Early Republic, 2003
Topic:
Portrait male  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mary L. Schaff
Object number:
1964.6.2
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
On View:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 1A
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk75d2ae6bf-de4b-4ff4-871e-1736bc73950b
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1964.6.2