National Portrait Gallery
8th and G Streets, NW
Washington, DC
Featured are more than 100 works—portraits, miniatures, lithographs, and illustrations—by the artist (1801-1846), considered one of portraiture's preeminent figures in the first half of the 19th century. Inman, along with Washington Irving, a major figure of New York's "Knickerbocker" cultural establishment, is best known for his life-sized oil portraits of theatrical, ecclesiastical, cultural, and political leaders of his day.
On view are portraits of thespians James Henry Hachett (as Rip Van Winkle) and Fanny Kemble Butler; Bishop Richard Channing Moore; Chief Justice John Marshall; and White House hostess Angelica Van Buren, daughter-in-law of President Martin Van Buren. Also on view are miniatures, drawings, book illustrations, engravings, lithographs, and genre paintings.
This is the first major exhibition since 1846 to focus on Inman's work and is mounted in conjunction with the Portrait Gallery's 25th Anniversary.
Catalogue