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Lot Essay
A PORTRAIT FIT FOR THE WHITE HOUSE
This portrait of Washington by Charles Peale Polk was selected by Jacqueline Kennedy to furnish the White House in 1962. It served as a distinguished tribute to the nation’s first president and was given pride of place in the Cross Hall (Chicago Tribune, February 18, 1962, p. 176). As dignitaries, diplomats, world leaders, and members of the Kennedy family moved from the entrance toward the Red Room and the State or Family Dining Rooms, they would inevitably pass this commanding likeness of George Washington. Jackie Kennedy placed it there not only to ensure the portrait was prominently seen, but because the image of George Washington, rendered with calm authority, served as a powerful reminder of the nation’s origins. His presence offered visitors to the White House an immediate reminder of the country’s founding principles and the enduring legacy of its first leader.
Charles Peale Polk’s portraits of George Washington at Princeton are among the most resonant and powerful images of America’s famed General. Drawing inspiration from the head of Washington from the 1787 “Convention” portrait by his uncle Charles Willson Peale, Polk expands the composition to show the commander in full military dress, complete with his sword and cocked (tricorne) hat in hand, and Princeton’s Nassau Hall, the recognizable building in the background that contextualizes the scene as the Battle of Princeton. Nassau Hall serves not only as landmark, but also as a symbol of the Continental Army’s victory on January 3, 1777. The battle, which marked the close of the ten crucial days following the Continental Army's crossing of the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey, took the American forces from the brink of defeat to the hope for triumph. After suffering a string of demoralizing losses in New York, the General achieved his first victories in combat at Trenton and Princeton. While the War was far from over, Washington's campaign in New Jersey demonstrated to the American people, their allies abroad, and the soldiers themselves that the Continental Army was capable of defeating the British. In recalling Washington’s military successes, this portrait functions as a visual affirmation of Washington’s military and moral authority at a moment when the young republic was defining its national identity.
Executed during Washington’s first presidential term, these portraits showcase Polk’s bold, linear style that he developed in his studies under his uncle and famed Washington portraitist, Charles Willson Peale. As noted, Polk directly references his uncle’s 1787 portrait of Washington (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, no. 1912.14.3), as well as his larger works depicting the General at Princeton, such as the life-size 1779 portrait sold from the Collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, Christie’s, New York, 21 January 2006, lot 547. Peale studied the landscapes from life and incorporated elements from sketches drawn when he visited the battle scene in February 1777. In addition to the inclusion of Nassau Hall, both the present portrait and Peale’s 1779 work show the noted hat and sword. Peale also includes a soldier carrying the Commander-in-Chief’s Standard at right. The blue flag with thirteen stars can be seen in Polk’s portrait in the background where it stands next to a lone soldier in the Continental Army’s camp.
Polk evidently enjoyed considerable success in the sale of these works. In a letter dated 1790, Polk claims to have painted 50 such likenesses underscoring its popularity. In total, there are at least 57 known and out of the group, the present portrait is numbered 53. These portraits reflect the demand for images of the nation’s first leader and they played an important role in circulating an image of Washington as both victorious General and emerging Founding Father. Through these works, Polk not only honored Washington’s battlefield achievements but also contributed to the heroic national narrative in the early United States.
The earliest known history of this portrait documents its ownership to William Clemm (1755–1809), a First Lieutenant in the Continental Army and “an intimate friend of Gen. Washington” (St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 6 1878, p. 8). He married Anna Catharina Schultz in 1778 and later settled in Baltimore. Polk painted Clemm, his wife, and his father-in-law John von Schultz (1732–1820), suggesting that Clemm likely acquired this portrait of Washington directly from the artist alongside the other family commissions. According to the 1796 Baltimore City Directory, Clemm operated a copper store at 128 Baltimore Street, a business later continued by his eldest son, William Clemm Jr. (1779–1826) who is documented owning a mercantile shop in 1804. Clemm Jr. married Maria Poe and their daughter Virginia Eliza Clemm would later wed famed poet Edgar Allan Poe.
Rather than passing to Clemm’s eldest son, the Washington portrait was inherited by his daughter Elizabeth (Clemm) Tschudi (1793–1868), along with the Polk portraits of her parents and grandfather. The painting of the First President descended in her family and was “treasured for many years”. N.B. Davis was possibly an intermediary between the last family owner and Macbeth Galleries (Simmons, 1981, p. 52). It was then purchased by Edward Coykendall (1871–1949) of Kingston, New York, a prominent civic figure and executive of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad and the Cornell Steamboat Company. The portrait was later acquired by Joseph James Ryan, and then passed to its present owner.
During the John F. Kennedy administration, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy borrowed the present portrait for the White House. As part of her landmark restoration, guided by the American designer Sister Parish and French designer Stéphane Boudin, the White House was transformed into a museum-like environment that reflected on the nation’s history and its decorative arts heritage. In official White House photographs, the portrait is seen prominently installed in the Cross Hall above a French Empire pier table. The Washington portrait was showcased on this wall from at least February 1962 through the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and into the early Richard Nixon presidency where it is documented as late as 1970. The painting remained on loan to the White House until 1992. The portrait’s continuity in the White House for thirty years underscores its enduring significance and the powerful symbolism embodied by George Washington.
This portrait of Washington by Charles Peale Polk was selected by Jacqueline Kennedy to furnish the White House in 1962. It served as a distinguished tribute to the nation’s first president and was given pride of place in the Cross Hall (Chicago Tribune, February 18, 1962, p. 176). As dignitaries, diplomats, world leaders, and members of the Kennedy family moved from the entrance toward the Red Room and the State or Family Dining Rooms, they would inevitably pass this commanding likeness of George Washington. Jackie Kennedy placed it there not only to ensure the portrait was prominently seen, but because the image of George Washington, rendered with calm authority, served as a powerful reminder of the nation’s origins. His presence offered visitors to the White House an immediate reminder of the country’s founding principles and the enduring legacy of its first leader.
Charles Peale Polk’s portraits of George Washington at Princeton are among the most resonant and powerful images of America’s famed General. Drawing inspiration from the head of Washington from the 1787 “Convention” portrait by his uncle Charles Willson Peale, Polk expands the composition to show the commander in full military dress, complete with his sword and cocked (tricorne) hat in hand, and Princeton’s Nassau Hall, the recognizable building in the background that contextualizes the scene as the Battle of Princeton. Nassau Hall serves not only as landmark, but also as a symbol of the Continental Army’s victory on January 3, 1777. The battle, which marked the close of the ten crucial days following the Continental Army's crossing of the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey, took the American forces from the brink of defeat to the hope for triumph. After suffering a string of demoralizing losses in New York, the General achieved his first victories in combat at Trenton and Princeton. While the War was far from over, Washington's campaign in New Jersey demonstrated to the American people, their allies abroad, and the soldiers themselves that the Continental Army was capable of defeating the British. In recalling Washington’s military successes, this portrait functions as a visual affirmation of Washington’s military and moral authority at a moment when the young republic was defining its national identity.
Executed during Washington’s first presidential term, these portraits showcase Polk’s bold, linear style that he developed in his studies under his uncle and famed Washington portraitist, Charles Willson Peale. As noted, Polk directly references his uncle’s 1787 portrait of Washington (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, no. 1912.14.3), as well as his larger works depicting the General at Princeton, such as the life-size 1779 portrait sold from the Collection of Mrs. J. Insley Blair, Christie’s, New York, 21 January 2006, lot 547. Peale studied the landscapes from life and incorporated elements from sketches drawn when he visited the battle scene in February 1777. In addition to the inclusion of Nassau Hall, both the present portrait and Peale’s 1779 work show the noted hat and sword. Peale also includes a soldier carrying the Commander-in-Chief’s Standard at right. The blue flag with thirteen stars can be seen in Polk’s portrait in the background where it stands next to a lone soldier in the Continental Army’s camp.
Polk evidently enjoyed considerable success in the sale of these works. In a letter dated 1790, Polk claims to have painted 50 such likenesses underscoring its popularity. In total, there are at least 57 known and out of the group, the present portrait is numbered 53. These portraits reflect the demand for images of the nation’s first leader and they played an important role in circulating an image of Washington as both victorious General and emerging Founding Father. Through these works, Polk not only honored Washington’s battlefield achievements but also contributed to the heroic national narrative in the early United States.
The earliest known history of this portrait documents its ownership to William Clemm (1755–1809), a First Lieutenant in the Continental Army and “an intimate friend of Gen. Washington” (St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 6 1878, p. 8). He married Anna Catharina Schultz in 1778 and later settled in Baltimore. Polk painted Clemm, his wife, and his father-in-law John von Schultz (1732–1820), suggesting that Clemm likely acquired this portrait of Washington directly from the artist alongside the other family commissions. According to the 1796 Baltimore City Directory, Clemm operated a copper store at 128 Baltimore Street, a business later continued by his eldest son, William Clemm Jr. (1779–1826) who is documented owning a mercantile shop in 1804. Clemm Jr. married Maria Poe and their daughter Virginia Eliza Clemm would later wed famed poet Edgar Allan Poe.
Rather than passing to Clemm’s eldest son, the Washington portrait was inherited by his daughter Elizabeth (Clemm) Tschudi (1793–1868), along with the Polk portraits of her parents and grandfather. The painting of the First President descended in her family and was “treasured for many years”. N.B. Davis was possibly an intermediary between the last family owner and Macbeth Galleries (Simmons, 1981, p. 52). It was then purchased by Edward Coykendall (1871–1949) of Kingston, New York, a prominent civic figure and executive of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad and the Cornell Steamboat Company. The portrait was later acquired by Joseph James Ryan, and then passed to its present owner.
During the John F. Kennedy administration, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy borrowed the present portrait for the White House. As part of her landmark restoration, guided by the American designer Sister Parish and French designer Stéphane Boudin, the White House was transformed into a museum-like environment that reflected on the nation’s history and its decorative arts heritage. In official White House photographs, the portrait is seen prominently installed in the Cross Hall above a French Empire pier table. The Washington portrait was showcased on this wall from at least February 1962 through the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and into the early Richard Nixon presidency where it is documented as late as 1970. The painting remained on loan to the White House until 1992. The portrait’s continuity in the White House for thirty years underscores its enduring significance and the powerful symbolism embodied by George Washington.