David and Catherine Stolp Cranec. 184535 3/4 x 43 5/8 " (90.6 x 110.8 cm)Oil on canvasGift of Ralph Esmerian2013.1.170full length portrait of a man and woman seated in chairs1547513916P1.2001.512013.24.17Sheldon PeckPaintingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.AuroraAuroraUnited StatesIllinoiseMuseum - Collection HighlightsPaintingsAuroraRobert Bishop, "Folk Painters of America," E.P. Dutton, New York 1979
Five-Star Folk Art: One Hundred American Masterpieces. Jean Lipman, Robert Bishop, Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, 1990, ill. #13, p.43.
David Crane (1806–1849) and his wife, Catherine (1814–1889), were originally from Pultneyville, New York. They were among the many western New York families who migrated to Illinois during the 1830s, attracted by the promise of plentiful and fertile soil. The Cranes traveled to Aurora, Illinois, by covered wagon in 1834, the year the town was first settled. A few years later, they commissioned impressive portraits of themselves and other family members. Although photography was available by this time, the painted portrait held the weight of tradition and afforded the luxury of scale and color. The realism and aesthetic of the studio portrait, however, had a profound effect that is evident in this work by Sheldon Peck.
The artist began painting about 1820 in his native Vermont before moving to western New York, and then to Illinois. Peck’s earliest efforts were stark and sober bust-length portraits on wooden panels. In Illinois, he introduced a brighter palette and a larger format of full-length figures. The trompe-l’oeil frame was an added inducement, as the portrait was ready to hang without any further expense.
Stacy C. Hollander, "David and Catherine Stolp Crane," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.
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.org
The Stolps and the Cranes were families of Dutch descent living in the rural hamlets of Pultneyville and Marion in Wayne County, New York. In 1832, Catherine Stolp (1814–1889) married David Crane (1806–1849), and the following year, her fifty-two-year old father, Frederick, trekked on foot to Illinois, attracted by tales of fertile lands and deep forests. He staked his claim in the area known as Big Woods, and then walked back to Wayne County to gather his extended family for the long return journey by covered wagon. They were soon counted among the pioneer families of Aurora, Illinois, in 1834, the year the town was first settled.
Almost a decade later, the Cranes commissioned two impressive portraits of themselves and their daughter Janette with her paternal grandmother. They hired a local artist, Sheldon Peck, who had also migrated from western New York, thus sharing their experience, culture, and values. Although photography was available by this time, painted portraiture still held cachet as a measure of success that the daguerreotype could not yet claim. Further, an artist like Peck could offer the luxury of scale and color befitting such an important venture, while still borrowing the modern aesthetic of the studio photographic portrait. Additionally, the grain-painted trompe l’oeil frame also provided a portrait that was finished and ready to hang without further expense. From the outset, Peck innovated a tri-lobe motif resembling a rabbit’s paw that he often used as a pattern on lace and fabrics, as in the collar and cuffs of Mrs. Crane’s dress. A Bible pictured in the companion portrait of the Crane’s daughter descended with a note that the portrait was painted on a linen sheet provided by the family and paid for with the trade of one cow, indicating a barter system still existed in face-to-face communities despite encroaching industrialization. David Crane died suddenly in 1849. Although his cause of death is not known, this was the year of a terrible cholera outbreak that swept through Illinois.
Stacy C. Hollander, "David and Catherine Stolp Crane," exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
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.orgPainted frame 3 5/8" wide.P1.2001.512013.24.1718401850 2013 1 17
David Crane (1806–1849) and his wife, Catherine (1814–1889), were originally from Pultneyville, New York. They were among the many western New York families who migrated to Illinois during the 1830s, attracted by the promise of plentiful and fertile soil. The Cranes traveled to Aurora, Illinois, by covered wagon in 1834, the year the town was first settled. A few years later, they commissioned impressive portraits of themselves and other family members. Although photography was available by this time, the painted portrait held the weight of tradition and afforded the luxury of scale and color. The realism and aesthetic of the studio portrait, however, had a profound effect that is evident in this work by Sheldon Peck.
The artist began painting about 1820 in his native Vermont before moving to western New York, and then to Illinois. Peck’s earliest efforts were stark and sober bust-length portraits on wooden panels. In Illinois, he introduced a brighter palette and a larger format of full-length figures. The trompe-l’oeil frame was an added inducement, as the portrait was ready to hang without any further expense.
Stacy C. Hollander, "David and Catherine Stolp Crane," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.
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.org
The Stolps and the Cranes were families of Dutch descent living in the rural hamlets of Pultneyville and Marion in Wayne County, New York. In 1832, Catherine Stolp (1814–1889) married David Crane (1806–1849), and the following year, her fifty-two-year old father, Frederick, trekked on foot to Illinois, attracted by tales of fertile lands and deep forests. He staked his claim in the area known as Big Woods, and then walked back to Wayne County to gather his extended family for the long return journey by covered wagon. They were soon counted among the pioneer families of Aurora, Illinois, in 1834, the year the town was first settled.
Almost a decade later, the Cranes commissioned two impressive portraits of themselves and their daughter Janette with her paternal grandmother. They hired a local artist, Sheldon Peck, who had also migrated from western New York, thus sharing their experience, culture, and values. Although photography was available by this time, painted portraiture still held cachet as a measure of success that the daguerreotype could not yet claim. Further, an artist like Peck could offer the luxury of scale and color befitting such an important venture, while still borrowing the modern aesthetic of the studio photographic portrait. Additionally, the grain-painted trompe l’oeil frame also provided a portrait that was finished and ready to hang without further expense. From the outset, Peck innovated a tri-lobe motif resembling a rabbit’s paw that he often used as a pattern on lace and fabrics, as in the collar and cuffs of Mrs. Crane’s dress. A Bible pictured in the companion portrait of the Crane’s daughter descended with a note that the portrait was painted on a linen sheet provided by the family and paid for with the trade of one cow, indicating a barter system still existed in face-to-face communities despite encroaching industrialization. David Crane died suddenly in 1849. Although his cause of death is not known, this was the year of a terrible cholera outbreak that swept through Illinois.
Stacy C. Hollander, "David and Catherine Stolp Crane," exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
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.orgPainted frame 3 5/8" wide.