[AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JOHN TRUMBULL TO BENJAMIN WEST]

Trumbull, John

Verlag: Paris, 1795

[1]p. Old fold lines, though very faint. Chipped along left side of sheet, not affecting text. Minor tears along fold lines on right side; small tear along right side affecting text but without loss. Bright and clean. Very good. John Trumbull writes to his friend and instructor, painter Benjamin West, regarding the purchase of several paintings. This was written during Trumbull's time as John Jay's secretary on the Jay Treaty Commission, after he had been sent to France to discuss the Treaty with James Monroe, the United States minister to France. Trumbull was delayed in France, awaiting orders, and filled his time by collecting art with the help of connoisseur Jean-Baptiste Pierre Lebrun. The letter, sent from Paris, reads: "Dear Sir, You recollect my asking your opinion with respect to the prudence of purchasing pictures at present. I have been tempted to purchase a number which are now packing up to be sent forward as soon as possible, and I hope soon to have the pleasure of shewing you several such as we seldom see. Among them is a large landscape by Berghem [probably the Dutch painter Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem], clear and beautiful as Claude. It is allowed here to have no equal among his works except one which is in the National Museum - a small picture by Nicholas Poussin, Christ in the Garden of Olives, the most beautiful thing I ever saw - a small picture a Religious Allegory by Guido - a St. John by Murillos - a Virgin, Child & Angels by Schidone - another by Augustin Carrache, a Magdalen by Carlo Dolci, another by LeSoeur - a Holy Family small & beautiful by Nicholas Poussin - Two capital Landscapes by Salvater - two capital pictures by Teniers, &c &c. They have been bought with the assistance of LeBrun's Judgment, and are most of them from celebrated collections. I have directed them to remain in the King's Warehouse until I arrive which I hope will be in five or six weeks." This letter provides an insight into Trumbull's own collecting interest and artistic influences. Hailed as the official painter of the Revolution, Trumbull studied painting and art in England and France. The youngest son of the governor of Connecticut, the elder John Trumbull very much wanted his son to go into law. Trumbull did study the law, but gladly joined the fight against the British when the Revolution broke out. He eventually served as Washington's second aide-de-campe, having been brought to the General's attention through some very accurate drawings he had made of British gun emplacements. He rose to the rank of colonel as a deputy adjutant- general, but resigned the commission he finally received because it was dated three months late, a slight his honor could not tolerate. He refused to return to the law, finding it quite distasteful, and chose instead to pursue his true passion, art, against his family's wishes. Though he was never particularly wealthy in this pursuit, he did achieve a certain amount of success in his own lifetime. Among his most famous works are those commissioned in 1817 by Congress to adorn the Capitol building: "The Surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga," "The Surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown," "The Declaration of Independence," and "The Resignation of General Washington." DAB XIX, pp.11-15. Helen A. Cooper, JOHN TRUMBULL: THE HAND AND SPIRIT OF A PAINTER (Yale, 1982), pp.10-11. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM40202

Bibliografische Details

Titel: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM JOHN ...
Verlag: Paris
Erscheinungsdatum: 1795