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拍品专文
The pair of portraits of Judge Isaac Smith and his wife Phoebe Lewis Smith are painted in the characteristic format and mode of Phillips' 1820s portraits, with dark background and brightly pigmented shawl and facial features. The inclusion of a newspaper whose banner is just legible and refers to a publication specific to the time and place of the sitter, and is a characteristic feature of Phillips' work. The pendant portraits illustrated here also bear more standard features of American 19th century folk portraiture in the conversant nature of the scrolling sofa arms on which the subjects sit.
Married on 28 January 1794, Isaac Smith and Phoebe Lewis Smith lived near Amenia, New York, where Ammi Phillips worked periodically. Isaac and Phoebe Lewis Smith had seven children. In addition to the responsibilities of a growing family, Isaac Smith was a prominent citizen in Amenia. He served as a Judge, on the Commission to build the Dutchess County Turnpike, he was a head of the Federal Company of Amenia, and in 1816 was member of the New York State Assembly. The newspaper Smith holds in his hand, The Plough Boy, may be a reference to what Smith considered his most important accomplishment. Beyond the civic duties Smith fulfilled, he also ran a sizeable farm whose 6,000 sheep produced wool for the burgeoning textile industry of New York and its adjacent areas.
The Plough Boy was published in Albany, New York from 1819 to 1822. The limited publication run of this paper provides not only important information in narrowing the date range in which this pair of portraits was painted, but also indicates that Phillips worked in a strong, dark palette somewhat earlier than was previously thought.
Married on 28 January 1794, Isaac Smith and Phoebe Lewis Smith lived near Amenia, New York, where Ammi Phillips worked periodically. Isaac and Phoebe Lewis Smith had seven children. In addition to the responsibilities of a growing family, Isaac Smith was a prominent citizen in Amenia. He served as a Judge, on the Commission to build the Dutchess County Turnpike, he was a head of the Federal Company of Amenia, and in 1816 was member of the New York State Assembly. The newspaper Smith holds in his hand, The Plough Boy, may be a reference to what Smith considered his most important accomplishment. Beyond the civic duties Smith fulfilled, he also ran a sizeable farm whose 6,000 sheep produced wool for the burgeoning textile industry of New York and its adjacent areas.
The Plough Boy was published in Albany, New York from 1819 to 1822. The limited publication run of this paper provides not only important information in narrowing the date range in which this pair of portraits was painted, but also indicates that Phillips worked in a strong, dark palette somewhat earlier than was previously thought.