Jean Leon Gerome Ferris - Wikipedia Jean Leon Gerome Ferris From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search American painter Jean Leon Gerome Ferris The First Thanksgiving 1621 Born (1863-08-08)August 8, 1863 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died March 18, 1930(1930-03-18) (aged 66) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nationality American Education Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Known for Painting Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776, Ferris's idealized 1900 depiction of (left to right) Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson of the Committee of Five working on the Declaration, was widely reprinted. The Landing of William Penn Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (August 8, 1863 – March 18, 1930[1]) was an American painter best known for his series of 78 scenes from American history, entitled The Pageant of a Nation, the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist.[2] Life and career[edit] Ferris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Stephen James Ferris, a portrait painter who was a devotee of Jean-Léon Gérôme (after whom he was named) and also an admirer of Mariano Fortuny.[3] He grew up around art; he was trained by his father[2] and his uncles Edward Moran and Thomas Moran were both acclaimed painters.[4] Ferris enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1879 and trained further at the Académie Julian beginning in 1883 under William-Adolphe Bouguereau.[2] He also met his namesake Jean-Léon Gérôme, who greatly influenced his decision to paint scenes from American history. Ferris wrote, "[Gérôme's] axiom was that one would paint best that with which he is most familiar".[4] His early subjects were Orientalist in nature since that movement was in vogue when he was young. In 1882, he exhibited a painting entitled Feeding the Ibis which was valued at $600.[5] By 1895, he had gained a reputation as a historical painter, and he embarked on his dream of creating a series of paintings that told a historical narrative. In 1898, he sold General Howe's Levee, 1777, but he later realized that such a series could not be complete if the separate paintings could not be kept together. Consequently, he never sold another, but he did sell the reproduction rights to various publishing companies. This had the effect of greatly popularizing his work, as these companies made prints, postcards, calendars, and blank-backed trade cards to use in advertisements. Laminated cards of these works were still being sold as late as 1984.[2] Ferris married Annette Amelia Ryder in 1894, and the couple had a daughter named Elizabeth Mary.[6] He died in Philadelphia in 1930. The paintings showed idealized portrayals of famous moments from American history. The complete series was shown at Independence Hall in Philadelphia from 1913 to 1930, then moved next door to Congress Hall. In later years, it was shown in a number of locations, including the Smithsonian Institution, before being returned to the Ferris family.[5] His works were widely popular for many years, but modern critics are far less generous in their praise. The American Philosophical Society claims that his historical paintings confuse "verity with verisimilitude",[7] and art historian Gerald Ackerman describes them as "splendid in the accuracy of accessories, clothing and especially in the details of land conveyances and ships", but "extremely dry in execution and rather monotonous in composition."[5] References[edit] ^ Sponsel, Rudolf. "J.L.G. Ferris (1863–1930)" (in German). Allgemeine und Integrative Psychotherapie. Retrieved 2010-08-01. ^ a b c d Nuhn, Roy (April 2007). "J. L. G. Ferris". The Antique Shoppe Newspaper. Retrieved 2010-08-01. ^ "The Ferris Collection". Building a National Collection. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2010-08-01. ^ a b Mitnick, Barbara J. (1993). "Paintings for the People". In Ayres, William (ed.). Picturing History: American Painting 1770–1930. Rizzoli International Publications. pp. 167–8. ISBN 0-8478-1745-8. ^ a b c Ackerman, Gerald M. (1994). American Orientalists. ACR Edition. pp. 82–3. ISBN 2-86770-078-7. ^ The National cyclopaedia of American biography, Volume 13. J. T. White Co. 1906. p. 403. ^ Fanelli, Doris Devine; Diethorn, Karie (2001). History of the portrait collection, Independence National Historical Park. American Philosophical Society. p. 55. ISBN 0-87169-242-2. External links[edit] Media related to Jean Leon Gerome Ferris at Wikimedia Commons Authority control General ISNI 1 VIAF 1 WorldCat National libraries United States Art research institutes Artist Names (Getty) Other Faceted Application of Subject Terminology Social Networks and Archival Context Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Leon_Gerome_Ferris&oldid=1034314129" Categories: 1863 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters Alumni of the Académie Julian American male painters Artists from Philadelphia Orientalist painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Hidden categories: CS1 German-language sources (de) Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles with hCards Commons category link from Wikidata Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ULAN identifiers Wikipedia articles with FAST identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Azərbaycanca Esperanto فارسی Français Nederlands Português Русский Simple English Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 19 July 2021, at 04:54 (UTC). 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