Artwork
Joseph Gales
Joseph Gales is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Samuel Finley Breese Morse. It dates from 1822 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Samuel F.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
As a portrait, the composition functions to represent the individual's appearance and status, consistent with early nineteenth-century portrait conventions.
The work titled 'Joseph Gales' is a portrait painted by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1822 using oil on wood. It portrays the sitter identified by the title, Joseph Gales. As a portrait, the composition functions to represent the individual's appearance and status, consistent with early nineteenth-century portrait conventions.
The painting entered the collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1951 after being owned by Lee B. Anderson and Victor D. Spark, and it was subsequently acquired by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 2014.
Technique & Style
The portrait is painted in oil on a wood panel measuring 13.97 cm in height by 8.89 cm in width, a small scale typical of early American portraiture. Samuel F. B. Morse's handling shows tight, controlled brushwork and delicate modeling of the sitter's features, rendered with a restrained palette dominated by subdued flesh tones and a dark, plain background. The composition is frontal and closely framed, emphasizing the subject's direct gaze and restrained expression, consistent with early nineteenth-century American portrait conventions.
History & Provenance
Samuel F. B. Morse executed this oil-on-wood portrait of Joseph Gales in 1822. The work entered the collection of Lee B. Anderson in New York before passing through the hands of the dealer Victor D. Spark, also based in New York. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington purchased the painting in 1951.
Following the dissolution of the Corcoran's collection, the artwork was acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 2014.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection in 2014 after the Corcoran Gallery of Art transferred it. Its Corcoran accession number is not specified in the cited records. The work was previously owned by Lee B. Anderson, New York, and then by Victor D. Spark, New York, before being purchased by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1951. No exhibition history is documented in the provided sources.
Overview
Samuel F. B. Morse completed this oil painting, titled Joseph Gales, in 1822. Executed on a wood panel, the work functions as a formal portrait. It depicts an individual named Joseph Gales, captured with a focused and composed demeanor, characteristic of early 19th-century portraiture.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter.
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