The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 17, 2024

Samuel Williams

Samuel Williams

c. 1817
(American, 1779–1843)
America, 19th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 172.5 x 142.5 x 14 cm (67 15/16 x 56 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 142.2 x 111.8 cm (56 x 44 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1965.474
Location: 205 Federal American

Did You Know?

Allston experimented with painting recipes, even attempting to mix his pigment colors with skimmed milk.

Description

Allston’s portrait of his London banker and business agent explores the experience of reverie. Williams looks off absently, perhaps inspired by the pictures in the book he holds. With its view of an Italianate landscape beyond the columns of this invented setting, the painting seemingly invites viewers to join the sitter in dreaming about faraway places.
  • Timothy Williams, Boston; Mrs. W. Pratt; Theodore Lyman, Brookline, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleischman, Detroit; Kennedy Galleries, New York
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 200 archive.org
    Adams, Henry. What's American about American art?: a gallery tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008. Reproduced: p. 48 - 49
  • "A Man of Genius": The Art of Washington Allston. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA (organizer) (December 11, 1979-February 3, 1980); Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA (February 28-April 27, 1980).
    Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, "Man of Genius" The Art of Washington Allston (1779-1843), (1979) fig. 48, p. 71, discussed in text on pg. 86.
    A Cloudy Symbol: Washington Allston in Retrospect. Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL (organizer) (March 6-April 13, 1975).
    Coral Gables, Lowe Art Museum, The Paintings of Washington Allston, (6 March - 13 April 1975) cat. no, 17, discussed in text on pg. 9.
    Boston, The Athenaeum Gallery: Annual Exhibition (1835), no. 60
    Boston, Harding's Gallery, Exhibition of Pictures Painted by Washington Allston, (1839) no. 34
    Boston, The Athenaeum Gallery, Annual Exhibition (1850), no. 62
    Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Catalogue of Works of Art Exhibited: Pt. 2, Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, and Decorative Art, (1881) no. 203
    Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).
    Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Golden Anniversary Acquisitions, (1966), cat. no. 54
    Tucson, University of Arizona Art Gallery, American Painting 1765-1963, (1964), illus. pg. 17, cat. no, 2.
    Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Center, American Painting 1760-1960, (3 March - 3 April1960), p. 16.
    United States Information Agency, Tour of Greece and Israel (1958), no. 8
    United States Information Agency, Tour of South America (1956-57), no. 5
    Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Collection in Progress (1955), no. 4
    Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Washington Allston (1948), no. 110
  • {{cite web|title=Samuel Williams|url=false|author=Washington Allston|year=c. 1817|access-date=17 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.474