Reverend John Gabriel Gebhard182030 x 24"Oil on canvasGift of the Gebhard Family2022.17.101575348541Ammi PhillipsPaintingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Inscribed, signed and dated on the reverse “J. Gebhard Aetatis 71 1820 Painted by A. Phillips”ClaverackClaverackUnited StatesNew YorkPaintingsAmerican Folk Art MuseumClaverackThese portraits are both signed by Ammi Phillips, making them highly rare examples of documented work by the artist. In complement to the later signed portrait of George Sunderland in our collections, these works significantly strengthen AFAM’s status as the museum of record for documenting the career of this iconic early American folk portraitist. The portraits mark a transitional moment in Phillips’ career, sharing some stylistic and compositional characteristics of the similarly dated portrait of Rhoda Goodrich Bentley in AFAM’s collections, but moving gradually away from the paler backgrounds of the earlier ”Border Limner” era. The portraits are fine examples of the artist’s period working in the vicinity of Troy, New York, representing prominent members of the community and, in the case of Rev. Gebhard, a noted historical figure in the annals of the German Reformed Church in America. German-born, Reverend John Gabriel Gebhard was educated at the University of Heidelberg; he was from the town of Waldorf and knew John Jacob Astor as a boy. In New York, he expanded on his ministerial duties with the founding of a local seminary for boys and was highly respected for his”sagacity, knowledge of human nature, prudence, and self-control.” (Harbaugh, 394) A letter to him from George Washington is preserved in the first President’s papers.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.org18201820 2022 17 1 These portraits are both signed by Ammi Phillips, making them highly rare examples of documented work by the artist. In complement to the later signed portrait of George Sunderland in our collections, these works significantly strengthen AFAM’s status as the museum of record for documenting the career of this iconic early American folk portraitist. The portraits mark a transitional moment in Phillips’ career, sharing some stylistic and compositional characteristics of the similarly dated portrait of Rhoda Goodrich Bentley in AFAM’s collections, but moving gradually away from the paler backgrounds of the earlier ”Border Limner” era. The portraits are fine examples of the artist’s period working in the vicinity of Troy, New York, representing prominent members of the community and, in the case of Rev. Gebhard, a noted historical figure in the annals of the German Reformed Church in America. German-born, Reverend John Gabriel Gebhard was educated at the University of Heidelberg; he was from the town of Waldorf and knew John Jacob Astor as a boy. In New York, he expanded on his ministerial duties with the founding of a local seminary for boys and was highly respected for his”sagacity, knowledge of human nature, prudence, and self-control.” (Harbaugh, 394) A letter to him from George Washington is preserved in the first President’s papers.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