Sheldon Peck, Portraits of a Man and Woman, Painted About 1828

Sheldon Peck was born in Cornwall, Vermont, one of eleven children of early settlers. It is thought that he received no formal art training, and his works are not signed. However, his portraits are easily identifiable and fall into three distinct stages within his life: Vermont, until about 1827-28; Onondaga County, New York, from 1828 until 1836; and the Chicago, Illinois, area until his death in 1868.

Peck's general portrait style is characterized by rather stiffly posed subjects, a frontal position, prominent staring eyes, and strongly defined facial planes. All his Vermont and New York portraits were painted on wood panels, and most have plain dark backgrounds. This half-length Portrait of a Man was painted while Sheldon Peck was in New York State. This Portrait of a Gentleman from his New York period is one of a group of four family members.

Date: About 1828

Measurement: 25" x 19 15/16"

Material: Oil on wood panel

Condition: Excellent condition

Provenance: RECORDED: Marianne E. Balazs, Sheldon Peck, exhibition catalog (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1975-76), the gentleman is number 13; the woman is catalog number 14.

EXHIBITED: Hirschl & Adler Folk, New York, Source and Inspiration, A Continuing Tradition, 1988, pp. 51 no. 27, 34 illus. in color // Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, 1991, American Folk Art, Selections from the Hirschl & Adler Collections, no. 48a

EX COLLECTION: acquired from descendants of the sitters in Cato, New York; to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bury; to [William Samaha, Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts]

SOLD