Artwork
Dr. Samuel Boude
Dr. Samuel Boude is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Benjamin West. It dates from 1756 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
A man sits facing forward in old-fashioned dress, the folds of his clothing carefully worked. His calm, serious expression gives a sense of his character. Benjamin West, oil on canvas, 1756.
Subject & Meaning
Samuel Boude, executed by Benjamin West in 1756, portrays Samuel Boude, a physician of the period, as indicated by the honorific in the title.
The painting titled Dr. Samuel Boude, executed by Benjamin West in 1756, portrays Samuel Boude, a physician of the period, as indicated by the honorific in the title. As a portrait by a leading British-American artist, it exemplifies mid-eighteenth-century conventions of status portraiture, emphasizing the sitter's respectable profession rather than employing explicit medical symbols. The work descended in the Boude family, hanging for many years at their Pennsylvania home, before being acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 1964, where it serves as an example of early American portraiture and the cultural valuation of learned professionals.
Technique & Style
Benjamin West's Dr. Samuel Boude (1756) is executed in oil on canvas, a medium and support consistent with mid-18th-century portraiture. The painting measures 90.4 by 76.5 centimeters. Stylistically, the portrait adheres to the restrained elegance of colonial American portraiture, with attention to the sitter's likeness and attire.
According to family accounts the surface sustained some damage in the area of the eyes, though the work otherwise remains well preserved.
History & Provenance
The portrait of Dr. Samuel Boude was painted by Benjamin West in 1756. It descended in the sitter's family to Elizabeth F.G. Heistand of Marietta, Pennsylvania, and was displayed for many years at "Mt. Bethel," the family home in Columbia, Pennsylvania, where, according to family accounts, it suffered damage to the eyes.
In December 1947 the portrait was sold by Heistand to M. Knoedler & Co. in New York and acquired the same month by collectors Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. In 1964 the Garbisches donated the painting to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it is recorded as accession number 1964.10.1.
Overview
Benjamin West completed the oil on canvas portrait known as Dr. Samuel Boude in 1756. This painting captures the likeness of its subject, Samuel Boude, who is depicted looking directly at the viewer. The work stands as an example of West's early contributions to portraiture, showcasing his ability to render individual character through a formal composition.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Benjamin West (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was an American-born British painter who specialised in history painting, creating such works as The Death of Nelson, The Death of General Wolfe, the Treaty of Paris,…
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