Dr. Jonathan Potts (1745-1781)
1773
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
About the artist
Artist
Henry Benbridge
Henry Benbridge was an American painter who specialized in portrait painting.
See the richer artist page1773
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dr. Jonathan Potts (1745-1781) is a 1773 oil by Henry Benbridge, a Rococo painting work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A man in a dark coat sits at a desk, quill in hand, staring straight at you. His face is lit softly, while the background fades into shadow. This is Dr. Jonathan Potts, a surgeon who worked during the American Revolution. The painting was made before the war, but you can almost see the weight of what’s coming in his steady gaze. The artist, Benbridge, trained in Italy and brought back a trick of using light to shape faces—here, it makes Potts feel real, not just posed. If you like how the light shapes his face, look up the technique called *chiaroscuro*.
Rutter family; Knoedler and Company, New York; Christie's, New York (sale 5794, lot 1, December 7, 1984); private collection, Philadelphia; Frank S. Schwarz & Son, Philadelphia; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1990.
Pennsylvania, Allentown Art Museum, The World of Banjamin West , 1962, cat. 62, as Unidentifed Gentleman by Matthew Pratt. Washington DC, National Portrait Gallery, Henry Benbridge: American Portrait Painter , 1971, cat. 46, as Jonathan Potts .
Robert G. Stewart, "The Portraits of Henry Benbridge," The American Art Journal 2, 2 (Fall 1970) 70 (ill.). The Magazine Antiques 88, 5 (November 1990) p. 912 (ill.).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Henry Benbridge was an American painter who specialized in portrait painting.
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