Portrait of Anthony Wayne BY CHARLES HENRY HART »U_Xa_Ax^M ct~~ C/ ^~\ &?/ Printed by J. B. LIPP1NCOTT COMPANY ■ ANTHONY WAYNE ADDRESS AT THE PRESENTATION OF HIS PORTRAIT TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA ON BEHALF OF MRS. JOSEPH W. DREXEL MAY 9, 1910 BY CHARLES HENRY HART PHILADELPHIA 1911 Fifty Copies Reprinted from "The Pennsylvania Magazine op History and Biography" for July, 191 1 ?yc*- a^ -±^. >^T* Sxs L*£l 3l^«v3§ iT&>3tf aL^^j fSjfi ^ Op Cot WwW N^P* g\ iIJbt rk'yi £^Sn&* m & ^ici r ' a / sv&Hra L^SEJWBtaii ^-M fT^r^^ffi^ysB^ PORTRAIT OF ANTHONY WAYNE BY CHARLES HENRY HART. At the annual meeting of the Historical Society ot Pennsylvania, held in its Hall on the evening of May 9, 1910, the President, Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, read the following letter from Charles Henry Hart, Esq. : — Philadelphia, May 4, 1910. Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. My Dear Governor : — It is with great pleasure that I am the medium for pre- senting to the society, on behalf of Mrs. Joseph W. Drexel, the important and valuable original portrait of General Anthony Wayne, painted from life, in 1796, by Henry Elouis. I learned that this portrait was in "Washington, D. C, and knowing how desirable it would be for the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, brought it to the atten- tion ot Mrs. Drexel, who, in the most generous and charm, ing manner, secured the portrait to hang upon your walls. (1) rait <>f Anthony M a rill make a formal presentation of the portrail nt your annual meeting on May 9th. I am, with distinguished consideration, my dear Governor, Faithfully, in irles IIi:m:-i Bart. The President t ln-n introduced Mr. Hart, who said: It is my high i'ii\ ilege and distinguished honor to pr< 10 you mi behalf of Mrs. Joseph W. Drezel, a lineal de- scendant, in the third generation, from Thomas Whai the firsl Governor of the state- of Pennsylvania, and a lady nf keen historical instincts and an intelligent love of art, as rare as it ie g 1, which arc plainly evidenced by her gra- cious gifl to-night, an original portrait, painted from lii ral A 1 1 1 ] 1 1 1 1 1 _\- Wayne, the most illustrious soldier Penn- sylvania I 'i to the nation, and by leading authority considered the mosl eminenl general of the Revolutionary War. This portrail was painted in the year that Wayne died, by Henry Blows, a French emigre, and it- i w as uuknow n to historical students until recently disi o\ by me in Washington, D.C. Winn I firsl Baw this canvas it was in a deplorable condition, having been can ■ painted over until the original was almost lost to view, but all tliis foreign matter lias been skillfully removed and the portrait restored to its original state, until now we have the most characteristic and interesting portrait of Anthony Wayne that exists. The type of race : illy Bimilar to the portraits of Wayue painted by Charles Willson Peale, in the State House at Philadelphia, and by Edward Ba _ in the New York Hist rical Society. But Peal< and S agi how in their portraits Wayne's obesity as predominant, while the more artistic and deep seeing Frenchman has preserved the strong and clear cul features thai speak i mandingly for the man of force and action that we know Wayne to have b Portrait of Anthony Wa\ 3 These three portraits of Wayne, by Elouis, Peale and Sav. age, differ wholly and entirely from the commonly familiar profile picture of him, in a cocked hat, called " the Trum bull portrait of Wayne." But the authenticity of this last named picture, as a portrait from life, is exceedingly doubt- ful. The original is at best a small miniature, about one inch in height, in a crowded group of American officers, in the painting by Trumbull, of the Surrender of Cornwallis, in the Yale Gallery of the Fine Arts, at New Haven, Conn. ; and consequently all the engravings and life size paintings of Wayne, of this type, are merely enlarged copies of this supposed portrait, vampered up to suit the taste of the copy- ist, whether painter or engraver, and are, therefore, only ideal heads. It is well to bear in mind in considering this question, that there is no other and separate painting or drawing known by Trumbull, of Wayne; that the so-called Trumbull portrait of Wayne is found only in the grouped historical composition mentioned. The identification of the authorship of the present portrait is most interesting. What may be called the scarcest en- graved American historical portrait is a large mezzotint, (17.14 x 13.13) by George Graham, that was published in Philadelphia, June 1, 1796, by Freeman & Co. It is of Anthony Wayne after this painting by Henry Elouis. Of the only two known impressions of this print, one is in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and be- fore us to-night. In it Wayne is represented, as you will see, at three-quarter length, standing, in full uniform, with the order of the Cincinnati on the lapel of his coat. His right hand rests upon a parchment, marked " TREATY," on a table, while in his left hand he holds his sword at his side. Above the table is what appears to be a window or base, with column and curtain, upon which is a garlanded Indian pipe-of-peace. The canvas must have been painted between Wayne's coming to the East from his Indian cam- paign, in February, 1796, and his return to the North-west, in June of the same year, to take possession, for the United 4 Portrait <>f Anthony II' • Government, of the posts al Detroit, Niagara and Preeque LbIo, from which lie never returned, dying al Erie, l';i.. <>ii December I-".. 1 T '. * « *► . According to a certificate written by Oolonel J. J. Abert, U.S.A., dated March, I which is affixed to the back of the canvas, tliis portrait painted for Major Caleb Swan. who was appointed Paj ter-General <>t' tin- United States army a month later than Wayne was commissioned Commander-in-Chief, and who was very closely attached to Wayne. Major Bwan died Nov. 20, 1809, leaving a widow, who was <'"l"t.<-] Ab eldest sister, and one daughter. The widow Swan married W. W. P. Bryan of Philadelphia and the daughter became the wife of < i >■• 'Ilti- Allan Magruder, I'.s.X.. when the por- trail of Wayne was given to Colonel Abert, he having firs! ■ in L808, ;ii his brother-in-law's house in Washington, when Beeking appointment as cadet to the U.S. Military Academy at W.-i Point Colonel Aberl died in 1868, and the portrait passed to his Bon Mr. Charles Abert, who died 1897, and it was sold in the settlement ol his estate. As stated in the certificate, Colonel Abert did not recoiled the name of the artist who painted the portrait, only that hi "celebrated ": and we learn who the artist was by his nam.' upon the engraving, by Graham, before us. Jean Pierre Henri Elouis or, as he called himself in this country, Henry Elouis, was born in Caen, France, January '20, 17">">. and died their December 23, 1840. He was des- tined for medicine but he sought art and Btudied under the French painter .Ivan Barnard Restout, going to London in 1783, where three years later be won the Royal Academy silver medal for drawing of the human figure. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in IT-.''. L786 and 17-7 and at the aning of the French Revolution emigrated to America, settling in Maryland, where Charles Willson Peale met him in 1791, al Annapolis, and, calling him " Mr Loise," men- tions that "he paints in a new stile," querying -harply. •• it" this gentleman so cried up will do better than Mr. Pine Portrait of Anthony Wayne. 5 whose reputation was equally cried up." ' In 1792 Elouis removed to Philadelphia and his name appears in the Di- rectories for 1793, "limner 201 Mulbery;" for 1794, "por- trait painter 106 No. Front;" and for 1799, "miniatures 1 So third." While in Philadelphia he gave instruction in drawing to Eleanor Custis and painted miniatures of Wash- ington and of Mrs. Washington. Unfortunately his minia- ture of Washington is unknown to us, but a beautiful ivory of Mrs. Washington, by Elouis, is in the unique collection of miniatures belonging to Mrs. Drexel, your benefactor. In this connection the following letter from Elouis to Wash- ington, preserved in the Library of Congress (Vol. 79, No. 101), is of particular interest. It is written from " No. 9, 8th Street at the Wax Works." "Philadelphia July 20, 1793. " Perhaps, Sir, you do not recollect my name ? I teach drawing to Miss Custis. I have been recommended by Mrs. Stuart and I have had the honour last winter to take your likeness in miniatur. It is not entirely finished having been much disturbed and wishing to make a well finished picture I shall wait till my mind is in a more quiet situation. " P. S. If you are pleased to favor my petition (for $80), I shall cease from that instant to receive the two guineas per month that I receive for the lessons I give Miss Custis." The answer to this application is found, under the same date as the letter, in Washington's Household Account- book, belonging to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : " Sent to Mr. Elouis by the President's order as a loan in consequence of application Filled with a spirit for adventure, Elouis travelled over the United States, Mexico and South America, making many explorations with Humboldt, and in 1807 returned 1 Wharton's Heirlooms in Miniatures, p. 100. 'ranee, leaving behind him a great many pid "particularly ai Havana and Philadelphia where be re- mained the longest. At Philadelphia particularly, he painted many of the illustrious persons of the Revolution, among others the celebrated Washington." 1 In l s ll he was made ( lurator of the Museum of his Dative town, which office be held until hi* death, at the age of eighty-i term of nearly thirty years. Bis portraits were Doted for their simplicity and directness, qualities very apparenl in the portrait of Wayne. Doubtless the "new Stile" that aeems to have ruffled the equanimity of Peale was Elouis's realistic boldness and rug of manner which was in Btrong contrast with Peale's Bomewhat mechanical Bmooth- in painting. The portrait of Anthony Wayne, by Elouis, is unquestion- ably an original portrait painted l'min lite, as it jMisssesses every quality and requirement of a life portrait As will en, it is of life size, in full uniform, but whether it has been cut down from a larger canvas showing the figure and detail- given in the engraving or whether the engraving is an elaborate i the busl portrait by the engraver, a not uncommon practice in making plates, we do not know, hut, from it.- unusual si.' . 20 \ 25 inches, I am inclined to think the former, particularly as the background, in the lower left corner, shows some detail meaningless in a bust portrait but which would be a part of the background of the li painting. However this may lie there can be ii<> doubt but thai the head and hust in the engraving are from this iden- tical portrait and it can be accepted as the finest delineation of the captor <>t Stony Point and vicl alien Timbers that exist I i notable difference betvi painting and the engraving will be observed. That is the abe of the order .it' the Cincinnati from the painting. A simi- "Noi '•I ii. Mancel. I Portrait of Anthony Wayne. 7 lar difference will be noticed in Savage's painted and en- graved portraits of "Washington and of Wayne as also in the portraits of some other Revolutionary characters. In the permanent painted portraits the order is omitted, while in the more ephemeral engravings it has been introduced. I will leave the solution ot this problem to others, and the portrait ot Wayne to you. At the conclusion of the presentation the following reso- lution was unanimously adopted: Resolved, That the thanks of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania be extended to Mrs. Joseph W. Drexel tor her important and valuable gift of an original portrait of Major General Anthony Wayne painted from life, in 1796, by Henry Elouis, and that in appreciation of said gift the Council of the Society be recommended to elect Mrs. Drexel an Honorary Member ot the Society. Subsequently Mrs. Drexel was elected an Honorary Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by the Council.