3/9/2023 0 Comments Portrait painterCourtesy of Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA.Īt least sixteen of Wilder's portraits are signed and dated on the reverse of the canvas with black paint. Drapes are often present, furniture rarely, and backgrounds are usually plain. Some modeling of the face is generally present, ears usually are large and stand away from the head, and the opening of the ear canal is a prominent round or oval dark grayish color. Hands are included only occasionally and when shown, usually hold an object such as a book, flower, or stylus. With only one exception figures are presented waist length. Head and body are generally turned slightly, usually to the right on men and to the left on women. Each is an oil on canvas approximately 28 by 24 inches in size. A review of those paintings that are available shows a uniformity in presentation. It is unknown if one influenced the other, or if both were influenced by yet another artist.Ī total of thirty-eight portraits by Wilder in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, are now known. During the period he was active in Vermont and New Hampshire, itinerant portrait painter Joseph Chase Rutherford was working in the same areas.6 His work is strikingly similar. Instead, he followed the course of most early American limners, starting as a tradesman painting furniture, houses, and coaches, and later adding the craft of painting portraits. There is no evidence to suggest that Wilder had any formal training. Thomas Wilder (1791–1862), Unknown Woman, probably area of Walpole, New Hampshire, ca. His marriage record confirms his union with Polly H. However, his birth record at the State of New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration establishes that he was born in Brattleborough, Vermont, about ten miles from Newfane. (The discovery of the artist's mother's name poses a possible familial relationship between Thomas Wilder and his subject Moses Rice, whose portrait was discussed above.) Thomas Wilder's birthplace has been variously identified as Walpole, Keene, New Ipswich, or Winchester, New Hampshire, and the state of Vermont. Wilder' in published references yielded few positive findings.5 Genealogical investigation revealed that the artist was born May 31, 1791, the son of Peter Wilder and Tamar Rice. An initial search for references to a 'T. Given this nucleus of ten portraits, it was evident that Wilder had resided in Vermont and New Hampshire. Wilder of Walpole, N.H.' and the date 'March 1839,' just one month before the painting of the Newfane portraits, only about fifteen miles away. These six paintings were stylistically very similar to four unidentified portraits of a Walpole, New Hampshire, family published most recently in an auction catalogue.4 On the reverse of each is the inscription, 'Painted by T. Thomas Wilder (1791–1862), Unknown Man, probably area of Walpole, New Hampshire, ca. Attribution of the Kenney portraits was made on the basis of their stylistic similarity to those of the Rices and Eagers, as well as family history.3 Wilder.1 The second pair of portraits bear no inscriptions, but the subjects were identified as Walter and Zylpha Eager, also of Newfane, on the basis of entries in Walter's diary: '7th June 1839.Portrait Painter comes begin to paint portraits 15th June.Wilder the Portrait painter finish and leave – pay him $10 in full for the two portraits one is not satisfactory.'2 The third pair were of Newfane residents Silas and Eunice Kenney. They are identified by inscriptions that give the date of execution as April 24, 1839, their names, and the artist as T. One pair was of Moses Rice and his wife Persis of Newfane. OIn 2005 I received a request from Joan Marr, curator at the Historical Society of Windham County, Newfane, Vermont, for information concerning Thomas Wilder, the painter of three pairs of very similar oil-on-canvas portraits in the society's collection. The portrait of Persis' husband, Moses, has significant surface loss. Courtesy of Historical Society of Windham County, Newfane, Vermont. Thomas Wilder (1791–1862), Persis Rice, probably Newfane, Vermont, ca.
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