Object Details
- Artist
- Christian Schussele, 16 Apr 1824 - 1879
- Designer
- Felix Octavius Carr Darley, 23 Jun 1822 - 27 Mar 1888
- Sitter
- Washington Irving, 3 Apr 1783 - 28 Nov 1859
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman, 1813 - 1871
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 29 Aug 1809 - 7 Oct 1894
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, 4 Jul 1804 - 19 May 1864
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 27 Feb 1807 - 24 Mar 1882
- Nathaniel Parker Willis, 20 Jan 1806 - 20 Jan 1867
- James Kirke Paulding, 22 Aug 1778 - 6 Apr 1860
- William Cullen Bryant, 3 Nov 1794 - 12 Jun 1878
- John Pendleton Kennedy, 25 Oct 1795 - 18 Aug 1870
- William Gilmore Simms, 17 Apr 1806 - 11 Jun 1870
- Fitz-Greene Halleck, 8 Jul 1790 - 19 Nov 1867
- William Hickling Prescott, 4 May 1796 - 28 Jan 1859
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 25 May 1803 - 27 Apr 1882
- James Fenimore Cooper, 15 Sep 1789 - 14 Sep 1851
- George Bancroft, 3 Oct 1800 - 17 Jan 1891
- Exhibition Label
- The artists Christian Schussele and Felix Darley created this apocryphal gathering of leading writers at Sunnyside, Washington Irving's Hudson River home, to honor the literary culture created by America's founding generation of writers. By making Irving the center of the image, the artists both glorify his career and at the same time celebrate the national culture. But in doing so, they made the writers too much alike. As a New York critic wrote, "If [Irving] could have caught a glimpse of such a gathering . . . [he] would have dashed out of doors." Nonetheless, the group portrait is an important summing up of an era in which American literature found its voice and created a vigorous national culture that a new generation-Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane-would later enhance.
- Provenance
- (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc.); purchased 1982 NPG
- According to Hirschl & Adler, prior provenance was: (Williams and Everett, Boston); private collection; (Williams and Everett); (The Casson Galleries, Boston); Walter Parker, Manchester, N.H.; Mrs. Norman F. Milne, Manchester, N.H. Williams and Everett was a Boston gallery fl. 1855-1907.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1864
- Object number
- NPG.82.147
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Sight: 134.6 x 199.4 x 3.8cm (53 x 78 1/2 x 1 1/2")
- Frame: 158.8 x 224.8 x 14cm (62 1/2 x 88 1/2 x 5 1/2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- American Origins
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 120
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior\Interior with Exterior View
- Artwork\Painting
- Home Furnishings\Furniture\Bookcase
- Costume\Headgear\Hat\Top hat
- Nature & Environment\Animal\Dog
- John Pendleton Kennedy: Male
- John Pendleton Kennedy: Military\Navy\Secretary of the Navy
- John Pendleton Kennedy: Education\Administrator\University\Trustee
- John Pendleton Kennedy: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- John Pendleton Kennedy: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Maryland
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Male
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Literature\Writer
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Education\Educator\Professor\College
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Communications\Translator
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Abolitionist
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Literature\Writer\Playwright
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Humanities and Social Sciences\Linguist
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Education\Educator\Librarian
- Fitz-Greene Halleck: Male
- Fitz-Greene Halleck: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Fitz-Greene Halleck: Literature\Writer\Satirist
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Male
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Literature\Writer\Essayist
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Humanities and Social Sciences\Philosopher\Transcendentalist
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Male
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Health and Medicine\Physician
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Education\Educator\Professor\College
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Literature\Writer\Magazine article
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: Literature\Writer\Essayist
- James Fenimore Cooper: Male
- James Fenimore Cooper: Military\Navy\Officer
- James Fenimore Cooper: Literature\Writer\Magazine article
- James Fenimore Cooper: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- James Fenimore Cooper: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Consul
- William Hickling Prescott: Male
- William Hickling Prescott: Humanities and Social Sciences\Historian
- William Hickling Prescott: Literature\Writer\Historical
- Nathaniel Parker Willis: Male
- Nathaniel Parker Willis: Literature\Writer
- Nathaniel Parker Willis: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Nathaniel Parker Willis: Communications\Journalist
- Nathaniel Parker Willis: Literature\Writer\Playwright
- William Cullen Bryant: Male
- William Cullen Bryant: Literature\Writer\Poet
- William Cullen Bryant: Communications\Journalist
- William Cullen Bryant: Communications\Journalist\Editor\Newspaper
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: Male
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Consul\US Consul
- Washington Irving: Male
- Washington Irving: Law and Law Enforcement\Lawyer
- Washington Irving: Politics and Government\Diplomat
- Washington Irving: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- Washington Irving: Literature\Writer\Historical
- George Bancroft: Male
- George Bancroft: Literature\Writer
- George Bancroft: Military\Navy\Secretary of the Navy
- George Bancroft: Humanities and Social Sciences\Historian
- George Bancroft: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Minister
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Male
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Literature\Writer\Biographer
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Literature\Writer\Essayist
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Humanities and Social Sciences\Critic\Literary
- Henry Theodore Tuckerman: Literature\Writer\Travel
- James Kirke Paulding: Male
- James Kirke Paulding: Literature\Writer\Poet
- James Kirke Paulding: Military\Navy\Secretary of the Navy
- James Kirke Paulding: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- William Gilmore Simms: Male
- William Gilmore Simms: Literature\Writer\Novelist
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.82.147
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4a136d626-754f-48b4-8be4-92dce6d4ee69
