Lot Essay
Justus Engelhardt Kuhn's paintings are among a small group of early known eighteenth century Colonial American portraits. The earliest documented portrait artist in Maryland, Kuhn was a native of Germany, and naturalized in Annapolis in 1708, where he continued to live and work until his death in 1717. Kuhn was a respected member of his adopted community as he was appointed a warden of St. Anne's Church in Annapolis where it was noted, "...his clothes are so fine, we would never suspect he was a painter..." (Pleasants, Justus Engelhardt Kuhn, p. 250). In addition, Charles Carroll, a prestigious Maryland figure, was the executor of Kuhn's estate, which listed several unfinished portraits, landscapes and a coat of arms, among other property at the time of Kuhn's death; nonetheless, Kuhn died a pauper, his estate totalling less than #50 (Pleasants, p. 250).
The principal portrait around which attributions to Kuhn are based is the well published and discussed portrait of Ignatius Digges, the only signed and dated work by the artist. This portrait is characterized by a meticulous attention to detail in executing young Digges' costume, particularly the lace border of the stomacher and the grand palatial landscaped background, a mezzotint derived prop adopted from European Baroque painting and typical of Colonial era and later American portraiture. Following this tradition, the subject plane of Kuhn's portraits of children frequently include a distinctive flanking of the sitter between an architectural/decorative prop and either a pet or servant, as in the Digges example. Other portraits firmly attributed to Kuhn which employ this formula include a pair of portraits of Henry Darnall III and his sister, Eleanor Darnall, both at the Maryland Historical Society (illustrated, Craven, pp. 240-241, figs. 121 & 122), and a Portrait of a Young Girl in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (illustrated, Craven, p. 243, fig. 125), as well as several others in private collections. While James Flexner assessed Kuhn's work with: "in their play-acting magnificence, Kuhn's pictures express hope, aspiration, vision....this is the way they [Colonial Marylanders] imagined themselves...." (Flexner, p. 92), it equally suggests that this is the way landed Colonials wanted their families to be perceived.
Like the Digges and Darnall portraits, the Portrait of a Young Girl with Dog illustrated here displays features typical of Kuhn's work. In addition to the execution of the face, hair and hands relating to the portrait of Eleanor Darnall, the careful delineation of lace at the cuffs and apron in this painting, the presence and stance of the dog, and the execution of the background cypress trees all place this work within Kuhn's oeuvre. Kuhn's thin use of paint, particularly evident where the background wall passes through the dog's hind legs, is another distinctive feature of his work, a technical aspect seen in the portraits of Henry Darnall III and Ignatius Digges.
Geneological research into the known subjects of Kuhn's paintings reveals that the principal families portrayed by the artist, the Digges, Darnall and Carroll families, were all related and were at the top of Annapolis society. While this is not to identify the subject of this painting as a member of any of those families, available evidence does suggest that she was a member of an extremely elite, presumably Annapolis, family. As such, this painting emerges not only as an additional example of the small number of documented works by Maryland's earliest portrait painter, but also as a record of a comparatively under-documented region and era of American culture.
For related literature, see:
Wayne Craven. Colonial American Portraiture, (New York, 1986), pp. 235-244.
James Thomas Flexner. American Painting: First Flowers of Our Wilderness, (Boston, 1947).
Maryland Paintings files, Courtesy of the Maryland Historical
Society.
J. Hall Pleasants. Justus Engelhardt Kuhn: An Early Eighteenth Century Maryland Portrait Painter, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 46, (October, 1936), pp. 243-280. R Richard H. Saunders and Ellen G. Miles. American Colonial Portraits, 1700-1776, (Washington, D.C., 1987), pp. 88-89.
Carolyn J. Weekley. "Portrait Painting in 18th Century Annapolis,"
Antiques, vol. III, no. 2, (February 1977), pp. 345-353.
The principal portrait around which attributions to Kuhn are based is the well published and discussed portrait of Ignatius Digges, the only signed and dated work by the artist. This portrait is characterized by a meticulous attention to detail in executing young Digges' costume, particularly the lace border of the stomacher and the grand palatial landscaped background, a mezzotint derived prop adopted from European Baroque painting and typical of Colonial era and later American portraiture. Following this tradition, the subject plane of Kuhn's portraits of children frequently include a distinctive flanking of the sitter between an architectural/decorative prop and either a pet or servant, as in the Digges example. Other portraits firmly attributed to Kuhn which employ this formula include a pair of portraits of Henry Darnall III and his sister, Eleanor Darnall, both at the Maryland Historical Society (illustrated, Craven, pp. 240-241, figs. 121 & 122), and a Portrait of a Young Girl in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (illustrated, Craven, p. 243, fig. 125), as well as several others in private collections. While James Flexner assessed Kuhn's work with: "in their play-acting magnificence, Kuhn's pictures express hope, aspiration, vision....this is the way they [Colonial Marylanders] imagined themselves...." (Flexner, p. 92), it equally suggests that this is the way landed Colonials wanted their families to be perceived.
Like the Digges and Darnall portraits, the Portrait of a Young Girl with Dog illustrated here displays features typical of Kuhn's work. In addition to the execution of the face, hair and hands relating to the portrait of Eleanor Darnall, the careful delineation of lace at the cuffs and apron in this painting, the presence and stance of the dog, and the execution of the background cypress trees all place this work within Kuhn's oeuvre. Kuhn's thin use of paint, particularly evident where the background wall passes through the dog's hind legs, is another distinctive feature of his work, a technical aspect seen in the portraits of Henry Darnall III and Ignatius Digges.
Geneological research into the known subjects of Kuhn's paintings reveals that the principal families portrayed by the artist, the Digges, Darnall and Carroll families, were all related and were at the top of Annapolis society. While this is not to identify the subject of this painting as a member of any of those families, available evidence does suggest that she was a member of an extremely elite, presumably Annapolis, family. As such, this painting emerges not only as an additional example of the small number of documented works by Maryland's earliest portrait painter, but also as a record of a comparatively under-documented region and era of American culture.
For related literature, see:
Wayne Craven. Colonial American Portraiture, (New York, 1986), pp. 235-244.
James Thomas Flexner. American Painting: First Flowers of Our Wilderness, (Boston, 1947).
Maryland Paintings files, Courtesy of the Maryland Historical
Society.
J. Hall Pleasants. Justus Engelhardt Kuhn: An Early Eighteenth Century Maryland Portrait Painter, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 46, (October, 1936), pp. 243-280. R Richard H. Saunders and Ellen G. Miles. American Colonial Portraits, 1700-1776, (Washington, D.C., 1987), pp. 88-89.
Carolyn J. Weekley. "Portrait Painting in 18th Century Annapolis,"
Antiques, vol. III, no. 2, (February 1977), pp. 345-353.