Artwork
Henry Teller
Henry Teller is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Ammi Phillips. It dates from 1835 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The canvas presents a seated male sitter identified as Henry Teller, a resident of Fishkill, New York, rendered in the characteristic style of Ammi Phillips.
The canvas presents a seated male sitter identified as Henry Teller, a resident of Fishkill, New York, rendered in the characteristic style of Ammi Phillips. The portrait emphasizes the sitter's clothing and posture to convey modest respectability, a common visual language in early American folk portraiture that signals social standing without overt symbolism. While the work lacks explicit allegorical elements, its composition and material, oil on canvas, dated 1835, reflect the period's practice of documenting local community members for patronage and legacy.
The painting's provenance traces from a family descendant to the National Gallery of Art, underscoring its historical journey.
Technique & Style
Created in 1835, the portrait of Henry Teller is executed in oil paint on a canvas support. The work measures 84.7 cm in height and 68.5 cm in width, adhering to the standard dimensions for formal portraiture of the period. As a genre painting classified specifically as a portrait, the piece depicts a male sitter, a subject consistent with the artist Ammi Phillips' known output.
The medium of oil on canvas allows for the characteristic handling typical of early nineteenth-century American folk portraiture, though specific details regarding the painting's physical condition or distinct brushwork are not detailed in the available records. The work is currently held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
History & Provenance
The portrait Henry Teller was created by Ammi Phillips in 1835 and originated from Fishkill, New York. It is held by the National Gallery of Art (NGA), Washington, D.C., accessioned as a gift in 1953. Its provenance traces from a collateral member of the sitter's family to Thurston Thacher of Hyde Park, New York, who sold it in 1949 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; the Garbisches subsequently donated the work to the NGA in 1953, where it remains in the collection.
Overview
Henry Teller is an oil on canvas portrait painted by Ammi Phillips around 1835. The artwork features a male sitter, depicted in a formal, seated posture and dressed in period attire. Phillips rendered the subject's facial features and hands with notable attention to detail, conveying a serious demeanor and an impression of the individual's importance.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Ammi Phillips (April 24, 1788 – July 11, 1865) was a prolific American itinerant portrait painter active from the mid 1810s to the early 1860s in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
