Floor plan

Style galleriesAmerican colonial and Federal art

American colonial and Federal art

This painting is a portrait of a man from the waist up. He is facing us, with pale skin, thin lips, rosy cheeks, light green eyes, and gray hair styled into curls around his ears. He has a neutral expression. The man is wearing a dark coat with gold buttons on the front, with a pale-yellow shirt underneath and a white cravat around his neck. The background is a dark and indistinct brown color.
Artist: Benjamin West, Sitter: Benjamin West, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
This painting shows a park-like landscape with trees, flowers, bushes, and a pond, all surrounded by light brown paths. The pond is in the center of the park, with light green-blue water framed by bushes, ferns, and tall flowers. Across from the pond are three large, white structures that could be mausoleums. Behind them is a hill with trees and more white graves or mausoleums on top of it. On either side of the pond, past the paths that encircle it, are tall trees with leaves in shades of dark green and brown. On the right side is a tall white structure that could be a grave or a monument. At the bottom of the painting, the paths curve up over a small hill in front of the pond. In between the paths are sections of grass dotted with small pink and white flowers. On the right side of the painting, a couple walks down the hill towards the pond. The person on the left wears a long blue coat decorated with gold buttons and a large, plumed hat, while the person on the right wears a pink gown and blue bonnet. Above the scene, the sky is blue, with puffy white clouds.
Jonathan Bentham, c. 1725
Portrait of a Woman with a Shawl, by Erastus Salisbury Field, ca. 1825-1850
George Washington, by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 1779–81
James Alexander Ross Cuthbert, by Edward Greene Malbone, 1799

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Portraits and pictures from early America, before and after independence.

First room, north wall

  1. This painting is a portrait of a man from the waist up. He is facing us, with pale skin, thin lips, rosy cheeks, light green eyes, and gray hair styled into curls around his ears. He has a neutral expression. The man is wearing a dark coat with gold buttons on the front, with a pale-yellow shirt underneath and a white cravat around his neck. The background is a dark and indistinct brown color.
    Abraham KintzingThomas Sully, 1815Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Artist: Benjamin West, Sitter: Benjamin West, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    West Family in the Studio GardenBenjamin West, 1808-09Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  3. This painting shows a park-like landscape with trees, flowers, bushes, and a pond, all surrounded by light brown paths. The pond is in the center of the park, with light green-blue water framed by bushes, ferns, and tall flowers. Across from the pond are three large, white structures that could be mausoleums. Behind them is a hill with trees and more white graves or mausoleums on top of it. On either side of the pond, past the paths that encircle it, are tall trees with leaves in shades of dark green and brown. On the right side is a tall white structure that could be a grave or a monument. At the bottom of the painting, the paths curve up over a small hill in front of the pond. In between the paths are sections of grass dotted with small pink and white flowers. On the right side of the painting, a couple walks down the hill towards the pond. The person on the left wears a long blue coat decorated with gold buttons and a large, plumed hat, while the person on the right wears a pink gown and blue bonnet. Above the scene, the sky is blue, with puffy white clouds.
    Mount Auburn CemeteryThomas Chambers, mid 19th centuryCourtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Jonathan Bentham, c. 1725
    Jonathan BenthamUnrecorded American maker, c. 1725Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

First room, south wall

  1. Portrait of a Woman with a Shawl, by Erastus Salisbury Field, ca. 1825-1850
    Portrait of a Woman with a ShawlErastus Salisbury Field, ca. 1825-1850Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  2. George Washington, by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 1779–81
    George WashingtonCharles Willson Peale, ca. 1779–81Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. James Alexander Ross Cuthbert, by Edward Greene Malbone, 1799
    James Alexander Ross CuthbertEdward Greene Malbone, 1799Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, south wall

  1. A pale-skinned, clean-shaven man with a heavily lined, paunchy face sits against a green and red wall in this vertical portrait painting. The man sits in a wooden chair painted forest green and rests both hands on the closer arm. His body and knees are angled to our left, and he turns his wide, square face to look at with heavy-lidded eyes. One brow seems slightly cocked, and he has a large nose. His lips are pulled up on one side over a round double chin. He wears a white, shoulder-length wig and a sable-brown suit. The cuffs of a white shirt are visible at his wrists where his hands are stacked on the arm of the chair. The knee-length breeches are buckled at the knee over black stockings. His legs are crossed away from us, and his feet extend off the bottom edge of the composition. The bottom half of the wall behind him is painted burgundy red up to and including a chair rail, and the wall above is moss green. The wall is lined with a gold scallop pattern along the top of the chair rail and a sliver of brown on across the bottom of the composition suggests a wood floor. The artist signed and dated the painting as if he had inscribed the red wall near the man’s knees, “John Singleton Copley pinx 1772. Boston.”
    Eleazer TyngJohn Singleton Copley, 1772Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Mary Walton Morris, by John Wollaston, 1749/1752
    Mary Walton MorrisJohn Wollaston, 1749/1752Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. Artist: Thomas Sully, Sitter: John Sergeant, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
    John SergeantThomas Sully, 1811Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Second room, north wall

  1. Daniel Crommelin Verplanck, by John Singleton Copley, 1771
    Daniel Crommelin VerplanckJohn Singleton Copley, 1771Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, Raphael, by Benjamin West, c. 1770
    Elizabeth Shewell West and Her Son, RaphaelBenjamin West, c. 1770Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Senator Thomas Hart Benton, by Matthew Harris Jouett, 1820s
    Senator Thomas Hart BentonMatthew Harris Jouett, 1820sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. Three pale-skinned, blue-eyed children wearing green suits stand in a row facing us in this horizontal portrait painting. They all have round faces and full, pink cheeks. The tallest child is to the right, and he has shoulder-length cinnamon-brown hair. The other two come up to his shoulder and have blond hair. The tallest puts one arm on the far shoulder of the middle child, and the two smaller children hold hands. Each wears a pine-green, one-piece outfit with pewter-gray buttons, a wide, ivory-white collar lined with ruffles, and black, shin-high boots. The boy on our left holds a branch of dark red cherries. The middle child holds a pink rose, and the tallest a basket filled with pink roses. A black dog holding a gray and mauve-pink bird in its mouth stands in profile facing our left in the lower right corner of the canvas. The room around them has a tan-colored floor and gray walls. The room opens onto an alcove to our right with a rectangular window. A slender tree is along the left edge of the opening and a few pale, pink-tinged gray mountains line the bottom edge. Clear blue sky fills the rest of the window.
    The Westwood ChildrenJoshua Johnson, c. 1807Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The image displays a painted portrait of an individual, showing the upper half of the body prominently. The person is positioned facing slightly toward the viewer's left with their gaze directed forward. They have defined facial features with a smooth complexion and medium-length, curly brown hair that frames their face. The attire consists of an elegant coat with distinct buttons and a high-collared shirt underneath. There is a subtle shine and texture to the clothing. There are no visible jewelry pieces, and the person is not holding any objects. The background is a dark, neutral color, contrasting with the lighter tones of the person's skin and clothing.
    A Gentleman of the Morris FamilyJohn Wollaston, 1749/1752Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The image shows a man sitting and facing the viewer. He has his right hand on a table. The man's hair is gray and neatly styled. He is wearing a dark coat with a high collar, a white shirt, and a yellow vest peeking through. On the table are a quill, inkwell, and papers. The background is a dark, neutral tone.
    Robert ColemanJacob Eichholtz, c. 1820Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington