Jefferson Davis

Artist John Adams Elder American, 1833–1895

Date19th century

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Frame: 33 5/8 x 28 3/4 x 2 in. (85.4 x 73 x 5.1 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object number52.9.13

On View

Not on view

Provenance**Created United States, 19th century. Richard C. Lee [1]; to brother-in-law, Charles Wooster Winn (1859–1910); possibly to daughter Elizabeth J. Winn, Baltimore; possibly to her sister, Mary Day Winn, Baltimore; [Arthur U. Newton Galleries, New York]; [Ferargil Galleries, New York]; sold to NCMA, 1952.

[1] Reported to have acquired the work from the artist in the 1880s.
Published ReferencesEdward Morris Davis, A Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of John Adams Elder (catalogue) (Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1947), cat. no. 3.

Thirteen Notable Portraits (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Arthur U. Newton Galleries, 1948), cat. no. 5.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), no. 15.

Betty Chamberlain, "North Carolina: First state-initiated collection: How to get and spend a million dollars for art," Art News 55, no. 2 (April 1956), 37-44, 95-97, illus. (b-w) 39.

American Paintings to 1900: Catalogue of Paintings, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1966), no. 20, illus. (b-w)

"Portrait Goes to New Gallery," North Carolina Museum of Art Calendar of Art Events 2, no. 10 (August-September 1968), briefly discussed and illus. (b-w) unnumbered page.

J. Benjamin Townsend, ed., This New Man: A Discourse in Portraits (exhibition catalogue) (Washington, DC: National Portrait Gallery, 1968), 103, illus. (b-w).
Exhibition HistoryRichmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, "A Retrospective Exhibition of the Work of John Adams Elder," January 11-February 5, 1947, no. 3 (as lent by Miss Elizabeth Winn).

New York, NY, Arthur U. Newton Galleries, "Thirteen Notable Portraits," September 13-October 9, 1948, no. 5.

Washington, DC, National Portrait Gallery, "This New Man: A Discourse in Portraits," September 28-December 31, 1968, no. 103, illus. (b-w).

Object Rights Statement

The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) makes images of its collection available online to support research and scholarship and to inform and educate the public. Certain works of art, as well as the photographs of those works of art, may be protected by copyright, trademark, or related interests not owned by the NCMA. The responsibility for ascertaining whether any such rights exist and for obtaining all other necessary permissions remains with the applicant. To request images and/or permissions from the NCMA, please complete our online request form.