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George Washington’s Tomb at Mount Vernon

Image Not Available for George Washington’s Tomb at Mount Vernon
George Washington’s Tomb at Mount Vernon
Image Not Available for George Washington’s Tomb at Mount Vernon
Status
Not on view
Label Text

New England artist William Matthew Prior painted this distinctive view of Mount Vernon, one of a group of at least thirteen, in the mid-nineteenth century. Now generally considered a folk artist, Prior structured the sale of his paintings based on their degree of finish. Best-known as a portraitist, he began producing landscapes following the advent of photography, and focused on three main themes: Mount Vernon, winter scenes, and night or moonlight scenes. Prior based his Mount Vernon views on a widely-published engraving after W.H. Brooke featuring the new tomb, old tomb and mansion. Each of the works in the Mount Vernon collection is different, showing the estate in different seasons as well as times of day. This painting is the darkest of the Mount Vernon Priors, and represents one of the artist’s so-called “moonlight” or night scenes. These depictions of Mount Vernon at night are extremely unusual among the numerous nineteenth-century images of the site, yet were apparently a popular melding of two of Prior’s specialties, as more of them exist than his comparable daylit canvases.

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Datec. 1850
Artist (American, 1806 - 1873)
Geography Made - United States
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas; gilt wood
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 26 1/2 in. × 31 1/2 in. × 3 3/8 in. (67.31 cm × 80.01 cm × 8.57 cm) Other (H x W): 18 1/2 in. × 25 1/2 in. (46.99 cm × 64.77 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, 1993
Object numberM-3702/A-B
DescriptionHorizontal landscape view of Mount Vernon at night in spring or summer, with the new tomb in the left foreground, and the mansion, colonnade, and kitchen above on a hill in the left background. The mansion is painted in cream, with a grey roof. The “summer house” pavilion is outlined in black in the center, with the old tomb very slightly delineated below and just to the right of it. A large vine-wrapped tree appears in the right foreground. The palette, though dark, has vivid highlights, particularly in yellow and gold, throughout the foliage, and an orange ground appears in various areas. The new tomb is a bright orange color with pink at the left edge, perhaps to suggest bricks. At right, pale blue mountains with bright pink accents designate the Maryland shore, and numerous white sailboats appear in the vivid deep blue Potomac River below them. The sky is pale blue and pink, with cream and brown-black clouds that appear heavier and darker at the right.

It is framed in an embellished gilt wood frame.
Published ReferencesJacquelyn Oak and Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw, Artist and Visionary: William Matthew Prior Revealed (Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2012), 27-29. (General Reference)

Beatrix Rumford, American Folk Portraits: Paintings and Drawings from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1981), 176-182. (General Reference)

Robert Bishop, Folk Painters of America, (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1979), 35, 40, 42. (General Reference)

Patricia Johnston, "William Matthew Prior, Itinerant Portrait Painter." Early American Life (June 1979): 20-23, 66. (General Reference)

Jean Lipman and Alice Winchester, Folk Painters of America (New York: Dodd Mean and Company, 1950), 80-89. (General Reference)

Nina Fletcher Little, "William M. Prior, Traveling Artist, and his In-Laws, the Painting Hamblens." Antiques 53 (January 1948): 44-48. (General Reference)

Grace Adams Lyman, "William M. Prior, “The Painting Garrett Artist”, Antiques 26 (November 1934): 180. (General Reference)
MarkingsA note in the curatorial file indicates that this painting bears the artist’s stencil, though it is not presently visible.
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
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