Commodore Thomas Macdonough

c. 1815/1818

Gilbert Stuart

Painter, American, 1755 - 1828

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 261-263, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf
On View

West Building Ground Floor, Gallery G41-B

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on wood

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (original fabric): 72.5 x 57.1 cm (28 9/16 x 22 1/2 in.)
    support: 72.5 x 58.5 cm (28 9/16 x 23 1/16 in.)
    framed: 100.3 x 88.9 x 6.7 cm (39 1/2 x 35 x 2 5/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.8.17

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The sitter's son, James Edward Fisher MacDonough [1825-1849], Montclair, New Jersey; his brother, Charles Shaler MacDonough [1818-1871], Middletown, Connecticut; his brother, Augustus Rodney MacDonough [1820-1907], Middletown, Connecticut;[1] his nephew, Rodney MacDonough [1863-1935], Brookline, Massachusetts; his son, Charles Vance MacDonough [b. 1907], Wellesley, Massachusetts;[2] (M. Knoedler & Co. New York); sold 21 January 1937 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Lucy Macdonough Reade, Rodney Macdonough's sister, provided this provenance to Elizabeth Clare, M. Knoedler & Co., March 1948 (transcription, NGA curatorial file); her information was from Rodney Macdonough, Life of Commodore Thomas Macdonough, U.S. Navy, Boston, 1909. Augustus Rodney Macdonough owned the portrait by 1853, when he lent it to the Washington Exhibition in New York.
[2] Charles Vance Macdonough said that the painting became his property in 1935; letter to Elizabeth Clare, 22 April 1948 (NGA curatorial file).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1853

  • The Washington Exhibition in aid of the New-York Gallery of the Fine Arts, at the American Art-Union Gallery, New York, 1853, no. 160

1879

  • Century Club, New York, 1879-1907

1936

  • Masterpieces of American Historical Portraiture, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1936, no. 13

1940

  • Loan Exhibition: Naval Personages and Traditions, Naval Academy Museum, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 1940, no. 44

1943

  • American Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1943.

2012

  • 1812: A Nation Emerges, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, 2012-2013, no. 53, repro.

Bibliography

1879

  • Mason, George C. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart. New York, 1879: 217-217.

1880

  • MFA 1880, 46, no. 382

1909

  • Macdonough, Rodney. Life of Commodore Thomas Macdonough, U.S. Navy. Boston, 1909: repro. frontispiece.

1949

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 140, repro.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 104, repro.

1975

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 383, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 232, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 378, no. 535, color repro.

1986

  • McLanathan 1986, 147, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 357, repro.

1995

  • Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 261-263, color repro. 262.

Wikidata ID

Q20183612

You may be interested in

Loading Results