Artwork
Joseph Slade
Joseph Slade is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Ammi Phillips. It dates from 1816 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:on reverse (no longer visible, photograph in object file [1953.5.52] in NGA curatorial records): JOSEPH SLADE AGED [ ] YEARS AD 1816; on book: TEMPLE / OF / NATURE
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Its iconography consists solely of conventional portraiture without overt symbolic attributes, emphasizing the sitter’s status as a local community figure.
The portrait titled Joseph Slade, painted by Ammi Phillips in 1816, portrays a middle‑aged man identified as Joseph Slade, a resident of New York State. The work was originally associated with the Red, White, and Blue House built by Benjamin Slade, son of Joseph and Alsa Slade, in Waterford, New York, suggesting a familial context for the sitter. After being discovered in Lansingburgh (now Troy), New York, the canvas entered the collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch in 1952 and was gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1953.
Its iconography consists solely of conventional portraiture without overt symbolic attributes, emphasizing the sitter’s status as a local community figure.
Technique & Style
Joseph Slade is an oil-on-canvas portrait painted in 1816 by Ammi Phillips, measuring 102 × 84 cm. The work exemplifies Phillips's early portrait style, depicting a male sitter with the directness characteristic of the artist's approach to likeness. The painting's provenance traces to New York State, where it was possibly once located in the Red, White, and Blue House built by Benjamin Slade in Waterford, New York, before being discovered in Lansingburgh (now part of Troy). The canvas support and oil medium are consistent with early nineteenth-century American portrait practice. The work is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
History & Provenance
Created in 1816 by Ammi Phillips, the oil-on-canvas portrait of Joseph Slade originated in New York State. Historical records suggest the work was once held within the Red, White, and Blue House in Waterford, New York, a residence constructed by Benjamin Slade, the son of the sitter Joseph and his wife Alsa. The painting was later discovered in Lansingburgh, now part of Troy, by Frederick Fuessenich of Litchfield, Connecticut.
Following its discovery, the work was sold in 1952 to the prominent collectors Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. In 1953, the Garbishes donated the portrait to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains part of the permanent collection today.
The portrait currently resides in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Its modern provenance traces to Lansingburgh, New York (now part of Troy), where it was discovered by Frederick Fuessenich of Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1952, Fuessenich sold the work to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who subsequently gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1953. Historical records suggest the painting originally hailed from New York State and may have once hung in the Red, White, and Blue House in Waterford, New York, a structure built by the subject's son, Benjamin Slade.
The provided sources do not list specific inventory accession numbers or detail any public exhibition history for the work.
Overview
Ammi Phillips painted Joseph Slade in 1816, creating an oil on canvas portrait. The work depicts a single male sitter, Joseph Slade, presented with a solemn demeanor. This painting exemplifies Phillips's approach to portraiture during the early 19th century, capturing the individual's likeness through a direct and focused composition.
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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.
