March Object of the Month: Watercolor Portrait of Thomas Long
Thomas Long, ca. 1815–1817, watercolor and graphite, attributed to Rufus Porter, American, 1792–1884. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Gift of Julie Lindberg.
Several notable works have joined the Museum of Art’s collection in celebration of Rufus Porter’s Curious World: Art and Invention in America, 1815–1860, on view through May 31, 2020. Of note, collector Julie Lindberg recently donated Porter’s Portrait of Thomas Long, a dapper young musician with wavy brown hair, painted early in the artist’s career. An ingenious polymath raised in western Maine, Porter was a painter, an inventor, and the founding publisher of the Scientific American. His professional endeavors began in Portland, Maine, a vibrant seaport teeming with creative artisans, inventors, and artists.
After his participation in the War of 1812, Porter married and had a family to support. He began to paint small watercolor-on-paper portraits, or what he called “correct likenesses.” Through his mastering of his materials and fine-tuned perception of the physical world, he produced portraits that were accomplished and true-to-life. His portrait of Thomas Long (1798–1841), one of Porter’s earliest known works, is part of a group of six portraits all painted around 1815–1817. Porter deftly captures Long’s likeness with a direct gaze that exudes a special poise and vitality. Careful looking reveals details of Porter’s early technique. His fine undulating lines delineate the edges of the striped waistcoat and cravat, while broad washes shape the blue coat.
Like many artists of the time, Porter provided frames for his portraits in order to present a complete, ready-to-admire work. Four of these early portraits survive in their original grain-painted frames, likely Porter’s own productions. Long’s frame is a recent reproduction by artist and frame maker Johanna Moore. She followed Porter’s own instructions from his 1826 art manual, A Select Collection of Valuable and Curious Arts, and Interesting Experiments. The portrait of Long’s sister, Betsey Long (1796–1867) survives as part of this group and is now in the collection of the Rufus Porter Museum in Bridgton, Maine. Visitors to Bowdoin’s exhibition will find on view the portraits of Thomas Long and his sister Betsey, reunited after decades of separation that reveal the development of his artistic style.
Laura F. SpragueSenior Consulting Curator, Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Co-Curator of Rufus Porter’s Curious World