Artwork
Old Man in Red Slat Back Chair
Old Man in Red Slat Back Chair is an oil painting. It dates from 1838 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays an elderly man seated in a distinctive red slat-back chair, a domestic setting that underscores themes of age and stability.
The painting portrays an elderly man seated in a distinctive red slat-back chair, a domestic setting that underscores themes of age and stability. The work is attributed to an American 19th‑century artist and dates to 1838, reflecting contemporary portrait conventions of the period. Its display at the National Gallery of Art situates it within a broader narrative of early American artistic heritage.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the portrait measures 80 by 70.5 centimeters and dates to 1838. The work is classified as a painting within the portrait genre, depicting an elderly male sitter in a red slat-back chair. The medium and support are consistent with nineteenth-century American portrait practice, using oil paint applied to a canvas ground.
The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it entered as a gift in 1953.
History & Provenance
Created in 1838, Old Man in Red Slat Back Chair is an oil-on-canvas portrait attributed to an American artist of the 19th century. The work was discovered in upper New York State, where it was reportedly found alongside a companion piece, Woman in Red Arrowback Chair. Although donor records do not explicitly specify the location of discovery, the painting's provenance traces back to this region.
The painting entered the collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who purchased it in 1949. It subsequently became part of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., after being gifted by the Garbisches in 1953.
Old Man in Red Slat Back Chair is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection as a gift from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch in 1953. The Garbisches had purchased the painting in 1949, and donor records indicate it was found in upper New York State, reportedly alongside its companion portrait Woman in Red Arrowback Chair. No exhibition history beyond its acquisition and gift to the NGA is documented in the available sources.
Overview
The work is an oil painting on canvas that depicts a seated figure in a black suit and bow tie, positioned in an upholstered chair with a slatted back. A green tabletop holds an open book before him, suggesting a moment of study or contemplation. The composition is rendered in a restrained palette, emphasizing the quiet interior scene.
Context
While the painting’s precise origin is not documented, its visual cues, such as the bow tie, the slatted chair, and the interior décor, situate it within a European context of the 1800s, a period when portraiture often merged with genre scenes to illustrate everyday intellectual life.
Artist & collection
