Charles Frederick Thompson, Son of the Artist, in Red
Cephas Thompson (American 1775–1856)
Daten.d.
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions20 1/4 x 16 1/4 in. (51.4 x 41.3 cm)
DescriptionThe eighth and last child of the artist by his first wife Olive Leonard (who died in 1819), Charles (1816–1839) would die in his early twenties “in the South.” In this portrait he is a wiggly little boy, at age three or four, and the artist probably gave up on painting more than a rough sketch, as evidenced by the unfinished hands of the toddler. On the lower left is the artist’s cold stamp: C. THOMPSON, an unusual practice, seemingly of Thompson’s own invention.
Bequest of P. Compton Miller, Jr., 1993
Object NumberUR257
Elvira Sturtevant Thompson, Daughter of the Artist (Elvira Thompson with a Book)
Cephas Thompson (American 1775–1856)
Date1820
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions48 x 31 1/2 in. (121.9 x 80 cm)
DescriptionOne of Thompson’s finest works, this remarkably sophisticated portrait of his second daughter Elvira (1804–1855) is redolent of the neo-classical taste that pervaded even provincial America in the early nineteenth century. The Klismos chair, Elvira’s dress, the sparely decorated interior, and the orderly outdoor scene all combine to make the viewer momentarily forget that this is Middleboro in rural Massachusetts. In this fashionable setting, Elvira is beaming with health and youthful anticipation.
Bequest of P. Compton Miller, Jr., 1993
Object NumberUR255
Self-Portrait
Cephas Thompson (American 1775–1856)
Date1830
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions27 15/16 x 23 in. (71 x 58.4 cm)
DescriptionCephas Thompson, from Middleboro, Massachusetts, was one of the first generation of wholly American-bred artists. With no formal training in art, he became a remarkably good painter by dint of his sheer talent and inventiveness. Throughout his productive life he painted six or seven hundred portraits of often admirable and sometimes astonishing quality.
Little is known about his early life in Middleboro, forty miles south of Boston, or how he chose to become a painter. Beginning about 1800 Thompson made annual winter pilgrimages south to Charleston, Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk, advertising himself as a portraitist in the days when “art” meant “portraits” to most Americans. About 1820, after twenty-five years of grueling itinerant work, Thompson settled on his family farm in Middleboro. This was no retirement, however, as he continued to take portrait commissions in the area until his death in 1856.
Throughout his life, Thompson painted numerous portraits of his nine children. The Athenæum’s collection includes eighteen portraits by him and several by those of his children who also became artists.
Gift of Mrs. Madeleine Thompson Edmonds, 1978
Object NumberUR154