Artwork
Mr. Willson
Mr. Willson is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Nehemiah Partridge. It dates from 1720 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created in 1720, this oil on canvas portrait, titled “Mr.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: AEtas. Suae. / 35. years / 1720
About this work
A man in a bright red coat stands with one hand resting on his hip and the other pointing slightly forward.
A man in a bright red coat stands with one hand resting on his hip and the other pointing slightly forward. His white cravat is neatly tied, and he wears a dark hat tucked under his arm. Behind him, a dark, cloudy sky shows a faint ship sailing on water.
This portrait was painted in 1720 by someone called the Schuyler Limner. The artist used soft shadows to give the clothing and face a three-dimensional look.
Check out the technique: chiaroscuro to see how light and shadow create depth in paintings.
Technique & Style
Mr. Willson is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium consistent with early eighteenth-century American portrait practice. The work measures 106.7 cm in height by 91.4 cm in width, an upright format suited to a single half- or three-quarter-length sitter.
Stylistically, the portrait is attributed to a painter working in the manner of the Schuyler Limner, an anonymous artist active in the Albany area of New York around 1720. The handling reflects the provincial adaptation of English portrait conventions of the period, characterized by direct frontal presentation, sober palette, and emphasis on the sitter's features and costume rather than elaborate setting.
The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which acquired it in 1957 as part of the Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch gift. No condition report is documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Mr. Willson is an oil-on-canvas painting created in 1720 in the manner of the Schuyler Limner. The work entered the National Gallery of Art through a documented ownership chain that began with Joseph Willson, brother of the possible sitter Samuel Willson, and passed through several generations of the Willson-Hallett-Sinott-Boone-Robinson family: from Joseph Willson to his remarried widow Elizabeth Willson Hallett, then to Catherine Hallett Sinott, Catherine Sinott Boone, and Catherine Boone Robinson, whose daughter Catherine Robinson sold the painting. It was owned jointly by the Harry Shaw Newman Gallery and M. Knoedler and Co. in New York from 1947 to 1948, when it was sold to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, who gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1957.
This provenance, compiled by Knoedler before the 1948 sale from family records, cannot be independently verified. The painting measures 106.7 cm in height and 91.4 cm in width.
Legacy
The painting has remained in the collection of the National Gallery of Art since its donation in 1957, where it is regularly exhibited and studied as an early example of colonial portraiture. Its provenance, traced through several generations of the Willson and Sinott families before its sale to the Garbisches and eventual gift to the museum, illustrates a continuous ownership record that scholars cite when discussing the development of American portraiture in the 18th century.
Overview
Created in 1720, this oil on canvas portrait, titled “Mr. Willson,” is attributed to the anonymous hand known as the Schuyler Limner. The work presents a solitary figure in a vivid red coat, positioned against a muted, cloud‑filled sky that hints at a distant vessel on water.
Subject & Meaning
The sitter stands confidently, one hand on his hip and the other gesturing forward, suggesting authority or purpose. His attire, a crisp white cravat, dark hat tucked under his arm, and the striking coat, reflects the fashion of early eighteenth‑century colonial elites, while the background’s faint ship may allude to trade or maritime connections.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Nehemiah Partridge (March 9, 1683 – between 1729 and 1737) was an American painter.
