{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"5419"},"copyright":{"label":"Copyright","value":"The American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain."},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Gift of Valerie and Robert Goldfein"},"endDate":{"label":"End Date","value":"1855"},"sortNumber":{"label":"Sort Number","value":"2016    18    1"},"invno":{"label":"Accession number","value":"2016.18.1"},"description":{"label":"Description","value":"portrait"},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Oil on board"},"geographyPlaceregion":{"label":"Place/Region","value":""},"media":{"label":"Media","value":{"mediaURL":"https://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/9251/full","mediaDepartment":"Object Photographs","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"9251"}},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Heavenly Children"},"geographyCity":{"value":""},"textEntriesWebsitedisplaytext":{"value":["William Matthew Prior is best known for a reductive approach to portraiture that he accommodated to the finances of his clients through a sliding price scale. Prior had the proven ability to paint formal, academic portraits for those who had the means and desire, or the spontaneous and gestural portraits for which he is most admired and recognized today. Prior married into a prominent artisan family, the Hamblins. He had a strong influence on the painting style of his brother-in-law Sturtevant J. Hamblin (1817\u20131884), constituting what is loosely known as the \"Prior-Hamblin School.\" Around 1840, he moved with family members to East Boston, where he established a painting garret.Prior was a man of strong beliefs, an ardent Millerite, a proponent of abolition, and, with the advent of the spiritualist movement after 1848, a believer in the ability to make meaningful contact with the deceased. Prior was no stranger to death, having lost his first wife and six of their children. About 1850, he began to paint portraits from \"spirit effect,\" including his own brother, Barker, who had perished at sea in 1815 and was memorialized by their sister Jane, in an artwork on view in this exhibition. There was already a strongly established tradition of posthumous portraiture painted from corpse or memory, but Prior promised a true likeness of loved ones painted from the actual spirit of the deceased. This portrait uses the trope of heavenly clouds that was popular in portraits of deceased children. Such references helped grieving parents to be strong in their belief that their innocent child\u2019s death earned a reward in the world to come as their spirits have been accepted into the kingdom of heaven.Stacy C. Hollander, \"Heavenly Children, c. 1850\" 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.org","William Matthew Prior is best known for a reductive approach to portraits that he accommodated to the finances of his clients through a sliding price scale. Prior had the proven ability to paint formal, academic portraits for those who had the means and desire, or the spontaneous and gestural portraits for which he is most admired and recognized today. The artist first began to paint in his native Bath, Maine, before relocating in 1824 to the more urban Portland, a commercial center with a thriving arts community. Here he studied briefly with decorative painter Charles Codman. Prior married into a prominent artisan family, the Hamblins. He had a strong influence on the portrait painting style of his brother-in-law Sturtevant J. Hamblin, and other extended family members, constituting what is loosely known as the \u201cPrior-Hamblin School.\u201d Around 1840 he moved with family members to East Boston where he established a painting garret. Prior was a man of strong beliefs, an ardent Millerite, a proponent of abolition, and with the advent of the spiritualist movement after 1848, a believer in the ability to make meaningful contact with the deceased. About 1850, Prior began to paint portraits from \u201cspirit effect,\u201d including his own brother, Barker, who had perished at sea in 1815. There was already a strongly established tradition of posthumous portraiture painted from corpse, but Prior promised a true likeness of loved ones painted from the actual spirit of the deceased. This portrait uses the trope of heavenly clouds that was popular in portraits of deceased children, though sometimes also used in portraits of the living. Four souls emerge from the cloudy ether, children whose spirits have been accepted into the kingdom of heaven."]},"collections":{"label":"Collections","value":"Paintings"},"geography":{"label":"Geography","value":""},"pubreferences":{"label":"Published References","value":"Nineteenth-Century Folk Painting: Our Spirited National Heritage, Works of Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tillou (1973)."},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"155755"},"geographyState":{"value":"Massachusetts"},"geographyCountry":{"value":"United States"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"people":{"label":"Artist / Maker","value":{"displayOrder":"1","personRole":"Artist","personID":"1207","content":"William Matthew Prior"}},"classifications":{"label":"Classification(s)","value":"Paintings"},"textEntries":{"label":"Text Entries","value":["William Matthew Prior is best known for a reductive approach to portraiture that he accommodated to the finances of his clients through a sliding price scale. Prior had the proven ability to paint formal, academic portraits for those who had the means and desire, or the spontaneous and gestural portraits for which he is most admired and recognized today. Prior married into a prominent artisan family, the Hamblins. He had a strong influence on the painting style of his brother-in-law Sturtevant J. Hamblin (1817\u20131884), constituting what is loosely known as the \"Prior-Hamblin School.\" Around 1840, he moved with family members to East Boston, where he established a painting garret.Prior was a man of strong beliefs, an ardent Millerite, a proponent of abolition, and, with the advent of the spiritualist movement after 1848, a believer in the ability to make meaningful contact with the deceased. Prior was no stranger to death, having lost his first wife and six of their children. About 1850, he began to paint portraits from \"spirit effect,\" including his own brother, Barker, who had perished at sea in 1815 and was memorialized by their sister Jane, in an artwork on view in this exhibition. There was already a strongly established tradition of posthumous portraiture painted from corpse or memory, but Prior promised a true likeness of loved ones painted from the actual spirit of the deceased. This portrait uses the trope of heavenly clouds that was popular in portraits of deceased children. Such references helped grieving parents to be strong in their belief that their innocent child\u2019s death earned a reward in the world to come as their spirits have been accepted into the kingdom of heaven.Stacy C. Hollander, \"Heavenly Children, c. 1850\" 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.org","William Matthew Prior is best known for a reductive approach to portraits that he accommodated to the finances of his clients through a sliding price scale. Prior had the proven ability to paint formal, academic portraits for those who had the means and desire, or the spontaneous and gestural portraits for which he is most admired and recognized today. The artist first began to paint in his native Bath, Maine, before relocating in 1824 to the more urban Portland, a commercial center with a thriving arts community. Here he studied briefly with decorative painter Charles Codman. Prior married into a prominent artisan family, the Hamblins. He had a strong influence on the portrait painting style of his brother-in-law Sturtevant J. Hamblin, and other extended family members, constituting what is loosely known as the \u201cPrior-Hamblin School.\u201d Around 1840 he moved with family members to East Boston where he established a painting garret. Prior was a man of strong beliefs, an ardent Millerite, a proponent of abolition, and with the advent of the spiritualist movement after 1848, a believer in the ability to make meaningful contact with the deceased. About 1850, Prior began to paint portraits from \u201cspirit effect,\u201d including his own brother, Barker, who had perished at sea in 1815. There was already a strongly established tradition of posthumous portraiture painted from corpse, but Prior promised a true likeness of loved ones painted from the actual spirit of the deceased. This portrait uses the trope of heavenly clouds that was popular in portraits of deceased children, though sometimes also used in portraits of the living. Four souls emerge from the cloudy ether, children whose spirits have been accepted into the kingdom of heaven."]},"beginDate":{"label":"Begin Date","value":"1845"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"c. 1850"},"exhibitions":{"label":"Exhibitions","value":[{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Monday, March 5, 2018 - Thursday, July 5, 2018","exhibitionEndISODate":"2018-07-05","exhibitionID":"224","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2018-03-05","exhibitionBeginDate":"2018","exhibitionTitle":"Holding Space","exhibitionEndDate":"2018"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Tuesday, February 11, 2020 - Sunday, January 3, 2021","exhibitionEndISODate":"2021-01-03","exhibitionID":"239","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2020-02-11","exhibitionBeginDate":"2020","exhibitionTitle":"American Perspectives","exhibitionEndDate":"2021"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Saturday, May 22, 2021 - Sunday, October 8, 2023","exhibitionEndISODate":"2023-10-08","exhibitionID":"245","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2021-05-22","exhibitionBeginDate":"2021","exhibitionTitle":"American Perspectives (Travel)","exhibitionEndDate":"2023"}]},"curatorialRemarks":{"label":"Curatorial Remarks","value":""},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"20 x 22 1/4 \""}}]}