James Blakeslee Reynoldsc. 178845 1/4 x 36 "
Frame: 49 1/8 x 40 1/2 x 1 1/2 "Oil on canvasGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.2015374822652013.24.2P3.1995.2Reuben MoulthropPaintingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster1545053West HavenWest HavenUnited StatesConnecticutPaintingsWest HavenMarriage was a primary occasion for commissioning portraits through the middle of the nineteenth century. James Blakeslee Reynolds (1754–1834) and Mary Kimberly Thomas (1754–1833) were wed about 1788 and were probably painted then; their first child was born the following year, in 1789. Each is shown in the separate sphere determined by their gender. Mrs. Reynolds is seated in a fiddle-back chair, her receptive pose belied by her direct and determined gaze. She wears a beautiful, figured open robe over a dark petticoat; a lace shawl crosses over and is tucked into her waistband, and an elaborate lace cap with lappets tops her hair. She holds a rose to her bosom in one upturned hand, and a pot of flowers in bloom sits on a table beside her, drawing upon emblematic traditions associated with love and fruitfulness. Even so, both Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are painted without sentimentality. Lines creasing their foreheads and the sides of their mouths hint at a sense of humor and make their otherwise severe and masklike faces unusually expressive.
The portraits may have been painted by Reuben Moulthrop, an East Haven, Connecticut, artist who achieved renown for his waxworks of full-size figures arranged in tableaux, which were displayed throughout Connecticut, in New York City, and as far away as the West Indies. The portraits of the Reynoldses show the influence of John Durand, who painted in East Haven, New York, and Virginia. Some of the conventions associated with Durand's portraits are evident in the portrayal of Mrs. Reynolds: the hand raised to her breast and holding a rose, the other arm crossing at the waist, and the careful disposition of fingers, with their delicate fluttering. Heavy outlining describes hands and clothes and suggests the overlapping of three-dimensional forms. An attempt to place the figure in spatial context is seen in passages such as the black ribbon around Mrs. Reynolds's neck, which recedes behind the sheer gauze of her shawl.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Mary Kimberly Thomas Reynolds and James Blakeslee Reynolds," in American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 374-76.portraitAn informal patronage system developed after the War of Independence when elite citizens, such as Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College, commissioned portraits and other works of art by American-born self-taught artists. Many of these artists, like Reuben Moulthrop, were patriots who had served in the military. According to his daughter, Stiles considered Moulthrop a “self-taught artist” who “pleased with his genius.” The artist was celebrated in Connecticut, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the West Indies for his life-size dressed wax figures staged in historical vignettes that portrayed such scenes as “The King of France in the Act of Losing His Head under the Guillotine” or honored American war heroes. He also painted likenesses of the new American citizens in a direct, unflinching style that emerged after the war.
In these impressive portraits, Moulthrop placed James and Mary Reynolds in their own home rather than idealized settings. Certain emblematic conventions persist, such as flowers that symbolize fertility; in fact a child was born to the couple the following year. Clear gazes and open faces express pride of place and a sense of achievement. The tricorn hat hanging on the wall behind Mr. Reynolds was still the fashion of the day but may also refer to his service in the Connecticut regiment during the war.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Mary Kimberly Thomas Reynolds/James Blakeslee Reynolds," exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgPAINTINGhttp://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster1545053http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster1545053http://nodes.emuseum.com/BU1BGBAG/apis/emuseum/network/v1/vocabularies/termMaster15450532013.24.2P3.1995.217831793 2013 1 2 Marriage was a primary occasion for commissioning portraits through the middle of the nineteenth century. James Blakeslee Reynolds (1754–1834) and Mary Kimberly Thomas (1754–1833) were wed about 1788 and were probably painted then; their first child was born the following year, in 1789. Each is shown in the separate sphere determined by their gender. Mrs. Reynolds is seated in a fiddle-back chair, her receptive pose belied by her direct and determined gaze. She wears a beautiful, figured open robe over a dark petticoat; a lace shawl crosses over and is tucked into her waistband, and an elaborate lace cap with lappets tops her hair. She holds a rose to her bosom in one upturned hand, and a pot of flowers in bloom sits on a table beside her, drawing upon emblematic traditions associated with love and fruitfulness. Even so, both Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are painted without sentimentality. Lines creasing their foreheads and the sides of their mouths hint at a sense of humor and make their otherwise severe and masklike faces unusually expressive.
The portraits may have been painted by Reuben Moulthrop, an East Haven, Connecticut, artist who achieved renown for his waxworks of full-size figures arranged in tableaux, which were displayed throughout Connecticut, in New York City, and as far away as the West Indies. The portraits of the Reynoldses show the influence of John Durand, who painted in East Haven, New York, and Virginia. Some of the conventions associated with Durand's portraits are evident in the portrayal of Mrs. Reynolds: the hand raised to her breast and holding a rose, the other arm crossing at the waist, and the careful disposition of fingers, with their delicate fluttering. Heavy outlining describes hands and clothes and suggests the overlapping of three-dimensional forms. An attempt to place the figure in spatial context is seen in passages such as the black ribbon around Mrs. Reynolds's neck, which recedes behind the sheer gauze of her shawl.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Mary Kimberly Thomas Reynolds and James Blakeslee Reynolds," in American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 374-76.portraitAn informal patronage system developed after the War of Independence when elite citizens, such as Ezra Stiles, president of Yale College, commissioned portraits and other works of art by American-born self-taught artists. Many of these artists, like Reuben Moulthrop, were patriots who had served in the military. According to his daughter, Stiles considered Moulthrop a “self-taught artist” who “pleased with his genius.” The artist was celebrated in Connecticut, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the West Indies for his life-size dressed wax figures staged in historical vignettes that portrayed such scenes as “The King of France in the Act of Losing His Head under the Guillotine” or honored American war heroes. He also painted likenesses of the new American citizens in a direct, unflinching style that emerged after the war.
In these impressive portraits, Moulthrop placed James and Mary Reynolds in their own home rather than idealized settings. Certain emblematic conventions persist, such as flowers that symbolize fertility; in fact a child was born to the couple the following year. Clear gazes and open faces express pride of place and a sense of achievement. The tricorn hat hanging on the wall behind Mr. Reynolds was still the fashion of the day but may also refer to his service in the Connecticut regiment during the war.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Mary Kimberly Thomas Reynolds/James Blakeslee Reynolds," exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgPAINTING