Artist with palette knife, maul stick, and paintbrush

Dateca. 1850

MediumDaguerreotype

DimensionsPlate (quarter): 4 1/4 × 3 1/4 inches (10.8 × 8.26 cm)
Case (open): 4 5/8 × 7 3/8 × 3/8 inches (11.75 × 18.73 × 0.95 cm)
Case (closed): 4 5/8 × 3 11/16 × 5/8 inches (11.75 × 9.37 × 1.59 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.88

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a man seated in front of a pastoral painting on an easel; he is holding a palette knife, maul stick, and paint brush. This quarter plate cased daguerreotype is housed in a brass inside of a full leather case.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Unknown Maker: The Art of the American Daguerreotype from the Hallmark Photographic Collection. Art Institute of Chicago, 21 June-28 September 2003, no cat.

Developing Greatness: the Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 9 June – 30 December 2007, no. 156.

Rotation 8. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 15 May-10 October 2010, no cat.

Rotation 17. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 2014-January 2015, no cat.

Rotation 22. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 10, 2016 – January 8, 2017.

Gallery Label

Rendered with exquisite detail and artistic sensitivity, this occupational portrait exemplifies the technical mastery of daguerreotypy by the 1850s. Posing with the tools of one’s trade, or some evidence of a sitter’s profession, skill, or talent, was common in this genre of daguerreian portraiture, which flourished during the 1840s and 1850s.

Provenance

Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 2000;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

Published References

Keith F. Davis. The Origins of American Photography: from Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, 1839-1885. With contributions by Jane L. Aspinwall. (Kansas City, MO: Hall Family Foundation: in association with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007), 108 (repro.), 109, 317.

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