Mr. Willson
1720
Painter, American, active c. 1717 - 1725
Painter, American, 1683 - c. 1737

Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 106.7 x 91.4 cm (42 x 36 in.)
framed: 122.2 x 106.7 x 8.2 cm (48 1/8 x 42 x 3 1/4 in.) -
Accession
1957.11.9
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Joseph Willson (brother of Samuel Willson, who may have been the sitter); passed to Joseph's remarried widow, Elizabeth Willson Hallett; by descent to her daughter, Catherine Hallett Sinott; by descent to her daughter, Catherine Sinott Boone; by descent to her daughter, Catherine Boone Robinson; by descent to her daughter, Catherine Robinson, by whom sold (date unknown). Owned jointly by (Harry Shaw Newman Gallery and M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1947-1948);[1] sold 1948 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift 1957 to NGA.
[1] This provenance information, assembled sometime before 1948 by M. Knoedler and Co. (prospectus in NGA curatorial file) from various sources including family records, cannot now be verified.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1945
18th Century American Paintings, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 1945, no cat.
1947
Colonial Americans, Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (now Columbus Museum of Art), Ohio, 1947, no. 25.
1948
American Paintings of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1948, no. 2.
1967
Merchants and Planters of the Upper Hudson Valley 1700-1750, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg; Albany Institute of History and Art; Museum of American Folk Art and New-York Historical Soc., New York, 1967, unnumbered brochure.
1970
Two Centuries of American Portraits, University of Kentucky Art Gallery, Lexington; Paducah Art Gallery, Kentucky; J. B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, 1970, no cat.
1977
Loan for display with permanent collection, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, 1977-1979.
Bibliography
1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 156, repro., as by Unknown American.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 303, repro., as by Unknown American.
1992
Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 337-339, repro. 338.
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 334, repro.
Inscriptions
lower left: AEtas. Suae. / 35. years / 1720
Wikidata ID
Q20177795