Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 112

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I > Part 112

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Matt. Jouett, the painter, was born in Mercer co., Ky., April 22, 1788, and died in Fayette co., Aug. 10, 1827, when only 39. He was educated with great care, for the law-in strong faith and pride that his mental adaptation, personal appearance of rare beauty, and remarkable power in the control of men betokened a brilliant career. He studied faithfully, acquired the law of the books as if by intuitition, and attempted the practice, with rich prom- ise of name and fortune; but it was to please his friends solely, and to him a spiritless life. From the pages of his law books fancies took form, and the edges of his memoranda beamed with the faces of his friends ; his destiny was ART, and no pleading, or coaxing, or discouragement, or depression could keep it long in abeyance. The applause of the former had no such fascina- tion for him as the beautiful creations of his own free fancy. It mattered not that the profession of painting was then little esteemed in Kentucky ; there was to him a world of pleasure in its pursuit, higher and purer and

* Volume II. of this work, pages 501-8. t Records Lincoln county court, Nov., 1784. t Jefferson's Notes on Virginia.

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sweeter than any other calling offered. Striking likenesses, wrought without effort, and most exquisite forms teemed from his pen and pencil. Such powers could not be curbed in any rigid form, such inspiration was too natural to be fettered. He began to paint without a master. And if the opinions of such men as Healy, Frazer, and Bush-art men themselves, of no mean standing- are of weight, his portraits are to-day superior to those of any artist America has produced, and rank with the best of the old masters.

In 1812, war for a little while was more exciting than art, and the sword than the pencil. Jouett entered the army, and served with gallantry through at least one campaign in the then Northwest. After the war, which was to him a kind of holiday, Jouett began to paint with renewed zest. Wonderfully successful as a self-taught man, he yet felt the need of a master; and in 1816-17 spent six months in Boston, under the instruction of Gilbert Stuart, at that time the most world-renowned and esteemed of American portrait painters. Tuckerman, in his Book of the Artists, says Jouett was a favorite pupil of Stuart's. From other sources it is known that an intimacy sprang up between these men of genius which lasted through life. No man more admired and more thoroughly appreciated the peculiar excellences and promise of Jouett-the glimpses of character, if not the most outspoken character, and the brilliancy and beauty of color, so remarkable in his por- traits.

It has been said that Matt. Jouett was to Kentucky what Rubens was to Flanders. He was more. Kentucky, at the time Jouett painted, was almost a wilderness-the people unprepared for art, indifferent to its influences, with no masters to teach, no models to work from, no styles to study. Rubens had every advantage-in association, masters, art galleries, and an art-loving people, who were able and willing to pay for good works. Rubens was a sensualist, with all his accomplishments, and not beyond reproach. Jouett was a startling genius, of the most marked character; a thoroughly manly and pure man, with a fine musical education ; full of poetry, and one of the most brilliant talkers of his day. Rubens painted to old age; Jouett did not begin painting in earnest until he was 25, and was cut down at 39. Rubens knew by daily contact what the Renaissance in art had accomplished, for he studied from the best pictures ; Jouett never saw old masters' works, and could only dream of their glories. And it is astonishing that in the early days of Kentucky an artist should have been born, who, without breathing the Italian air or seeing the realistic productions of the Dutch, should have instinctively produced portraits which-for richness of coloring, mellow sub- dued tones, and strong character ; portrayal-stand to-day equal to the best works of European art in that direction.

Mr. Jouett was thoroughly the ideal artist, highly informed, of poetic tem- perament, vivid imagination, and most sympathetic nature. No wonder that such a genial and gentle disposition was admired and sought after by such lights as Clay, Crittenden, Daveiss, the Marshalls, and Breckinridges. And no wonder that among his best pictures were those of some of these very friends-Henry Clay, Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, John J. Crittenden, and James Morrison. To these should be added the full length portrait of the Marquis La Fayette, which belongs to the state of Kentucky, and adorns the hall of the house of representatives, to the right of the speaker's chair ; also, those of Gov. Isaac Shelby, Gov. Robert P. Letcher, Rev. Horace Holley, D.D., besides others in families at Vicksburg, Natchez, and New Orleans, where he spent several winters.

[The following brief sketches of a few artists, some native, and others visiting, who have had studios in Lexington, are from Ranck's History of Lexington.]

The art annals of Lexington are not to be despised. WILLIAM WEST, who came to Lexington in 1788, was the first painter that ever settled in the vast region " this side the mountains." He was the son of the then rector of St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, and had studied under the celebrated Benjamin West, in London. His family was a talented one. His brother, Edward West, who had preceded him to Lexington, three years before, was the won-

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derful mechanical genius who invented the steamboat in that city in 1793, and his son, WILLIAM E. WEST, is now remembered for the portrait he painted of Lord Byron, at Leghorn. William West painted but few pictures, and they were of only moderate merit. He is best known as "the first painter who came to the West." He died in New York.

ASA PARK, a Virginian, was the second painter who settled in Lexington. He died in 1827. Though Mr. Park attempted portraits, his best productions were fruit and flower pieces. His pictures, like West's, owe their value mainly to the fact of his having been one of the pioneer painters of Lexing- ton.

MR. BECK, erroneously mentioned in Dunlap's Arts of Design as "the first painter who penetrated beyond the Alleghenies," settled in Lexington about 1800. He belonged, at one time, to a company of scouts under Gen. Anthony Wayne. He and his wife conducted a female seminary in that city for many years, in which painting was a prominent feature. Mr. and Mrs. Beck were both artists of some ability, and painted many pictures, principally landscapes. W. Mentelle, S. Davies Mccullough, John Tilford, Mrs. Thomas H. Clay, and many others own pictures by Beck. He died in 1814; his wife survived him until 1833.

In 1818, JOHN NEAGLE, afterward known as the painter of "Pat Lyon, the Blacksmith," visited Lexington with the intention of settling ; but he found Jouett so far his superior that he left and settled in Philadelphia. He came to Lexington again in 1844, at the instance of the Whigs of Philadelphia, to paint for them a full length portrait of Henry Clay, Mr. Clay sitting for him at the Phoenix Hotel. In November of that year, he presented to Daveiss Lodge, of that city, a portrait of Col. Joseph H. Daveiss, from the original by Jouett. The picture is now (1872) owned by Major S. D. Mccullough.

CHESTER HARDING, who afterward acquired a national reputation, painted some excellent portraits here in 1819. Mrs. H. T. Bodley, Mrs. Wm. Pres- ton, Mrs. Woodward, Mrs. A. K. Woolley, and others have pictures by him.

LOUIS MORGAN, a native of Pittsburgh, settled in Lexington in 1830, and remained for many years. He painted pictures which evinced a very high order of talent, and it was only the lack of energy that prevented him from becoming noted. His best effort is his well-known portrait of Simon Kenton from life. He was gifted with exquisite taste and remarkable feeling for color. He died about 1860. Dr. Robert Peter owns some of his pictures.

OLIVER FRAZER, an artist-son of Lexington, was born February 4, 1808, and studied for several years under Mitthew H. Jouett. After the death of his distinguished instructor, Mr. Frazer, in company with George P. Healy, went to Europe, where he remained for four years, studying the great works of the old masters. On his return, he achieved flattering success as a por- trait painter. He died, April 9, 1854, and was buried in the Lexington Cemetery. His eyesight became injured some years before his death, which prevented him from being a prolific painter; but the few productions of his pencil are of rare merit. His portrait of Clay, and a family group in the possession of Mrs. Frazer, are considered among his best efforts. Mr. Clay spoke in the strongest terms of satisfaction of his portrait by Frazer, who re- ceived a number of orders for copies of it. Others of his pictures are owned by Major Lewinski, Frank K. Hunt, Mrs. Matthew T. Scott, Wm. Warfield, Judge Robertson, Mrs. Wm. A. Dudley, John S. Wilson, Mrs. Aaron K. Woolley, J. J. Hunter, and others, and are characterized by their delicate coloring and accurate delineation. Another has well said that Mr. Frazer was a true artist, and loved his profession for its own sake. He was honest, kind, and true, and was devoted to the retirement of his happy home. He was greatly gifted in conversation, well read in the best art and other litera- ture, and his taste was exceedingly delicate and correct.

In 1867, Mr. ALEXANDER painted some fine pictures in Lexington, one of Gen. John C. Breckinridge, and another of Judge Wm. B. Kinkead, being among the number.

Since Jouett's time, a number of artists have either sojourned in Lexing- ton temporarily, or made it their home. JOHN GRIMES, who excelled in deli- cate forms and colors, painted there, for several years anterior to 1832, at

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which time he died. Several of his productions are in the possession of his aunt, Mrs. Thos. Grant; and Mrs. Fannie Dewees and J. J. Hunter each have one.

The well-known miniature engravings of Clay and Jackson are from origi- nal portraits by DODGE, who resided for some time in Lexington.

JAMES H. BEARD, the American Landseer, during a visit to Lexington, painted portraits of the late Robert Alexander, Col. S. W. Price, and one or two others. He resided, for several years, in Covington, Ky.

WILLIAM VER BRYCK, who has since attained much celebrity, executed some very fine portraits in Lexington, in 1868, one of Mrs. D. Whitney, one each of Mr. and Mrs. John Carty, and portraits of several members of Dr. Henry M. Skillman's and Isaac Scott's families. No visiting artist ever met with so much success in Lexington as Mr. Ver Bryck. He came to Lexing- ton from the city of New York.

B. F. RHINEHEART, in 1869, had a temporary studio in Lexington, and painted in very superior style, portraits of Gen. John C. Breckinridge, Gen. John H. Morgan, Mrs. Basil W. Duke, Dr. and Mrs. Warren Frazer, Thos. Mitchell, and others. His chief excellences are fine modeling and coloring. He is a native of Ohio.

E. TROYE, who was born in England, but has long been a resident of New York, has painted a number of fine animal pictures. Some of his best efforts- pictures of blood horses-are in the possession of James A. Grinstead, A. Keene Richards, A. Buford, M. Alexander, of Woodford, and others. As an animal painter, Mr. Troye has no superior in this country. He has, as yet, attempted but few composition pictures, the "Dead Sea " being one.

Gen. SAMUEL W. PRICE is one of the most promising resident painters Lex- ington has had since Jouett. He is a son of the late Daniel B. Price, of Nicholasville, Ky., and was a pupil of the lamented Oliver Frazer. His first effort, at the age of seventeen, was a portrait of "Old King Solomon," the unterrified grave-digger during the cholera of '33, and long one of the "in- stitutions " of Lexington. This picture merits the celebrity it has attained. Another early picture is a fine portrait of Postmaster Ficklin. The portrait of President Fillmore, in the Phoenix Hotel dining-room, by Price, was painted in 1855. One of his most successful efforts is a large picture Gen. George H. Thomas, which has become extensively known. Mr. Price has received letters highly complimenting his work from both Mr. Fillmore and Gen. Thomas. A striking likeness of Judge Robertson must not be forgotten. Latterly, Gen. Price has attempted composition pictures, and with marked success. The "Night before the battle of Chickamauga," the "Young Artist," and " Caught Napping," indicate the latitude, as well as the super- iority of his talents. He has reflected honor upon the art history of his state.

Mrs. ELIZA BROWN, widow of Prof. John Brown, of Transylvania Univer- sity, who died in 1855, has painted a number of beautiful landscapes, the merit of which is heightened by the fact that Mrs. Brown commenced with the pencil at a time of life when art efforts generally cease. A Rhineland scene, the " Yosemite Valley," a Canadian landscape, and an exquisite bit of Minnesota rock and water, are worthy of special attention. Mrs. Brown, in 1872, when nearly 70, for the first time attempted portrait painting, and with extraordinary success, considering her age.

Mr. STUART, a South Carolinian, latterly a resident of St. Louis, painted some excellent portraits in Lexington in 1872-one each of Mrs. Rosa Jeffrey, Jos. B. Cooper, the city librarian, and Richard A. Buckner, Sen., deceased.

AARON H. CORWINE, one of the most promising artists of Kentucky, and a portrait painter of much character, died before he was 28 years old. He was a native of Mason county, Ky. (under which head, in Volume II, of this work, a biographical sketch will be found).

NEVILL CAIN, son of John S. Cain, of Louisville, while still a boy-painter, twice received such complimentary and substantial encouragement from the legislature of Kentucky as has never been so soon repeated to any of lier most favored and distinguished artists. On March 9, 1871, before he was

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thirteen years of age, his portrait of Chief Justice George Robertson was purchased by that body, at the handsome sum of $500, and ordered to be suspended in the court room of the court of appeals. Three years after, and before he was sixteen years old, the senate, on Jan. 23, 1874, adopted a joint resolution to purchase, for $250, his portrait of another venerable ex-judge of the court of appeals, Joseph R. Underwood, then one of the oldest practic- ing lawyers in the United States; it would probably pass the house in a few days. Young Cain, at the time of this last action, was in Europe (in Munich, Bavaria), prosecuting his studies as a painter; he had already received a bronze medal, for proficiency in painting-a rare compliment to an American, and more remarkable than rare, considering the youth of the recipient and the severe competition. It would seem as if honors and success almost be- . yond measure attend the path of this promising young Louisville artist.

THOMAS S. NOBLE, probably the most distinguished of the living artists (painters) of Kentucky, is a native of Lexington, born in 1835, son of Thos. H. Noble, a leading manufacturer. As with most artists of eminence, the passion for drawing seemed a natural development, manifesting itself early, at home and at school. It interfered with his studies, but the teacher smiled upon the efforts that produced so many genuine imitations and such curious creations of the fancy. His first teacher of drawing was Rev. John W. Venable; but at 17, in a few months in the studio of S. W. Price, at Louis- ville, he learned the use of colors and received the kindest encouragement. After a few months study in New York city, in the companionship of some of the best artists, he crossed the Atlantic, to Paris, and for three years en- joyed the special instructions and friendship of the illustrious Thomas Con- tune, author of many great works, a consummate draughtsman, and one of the first of modern colorists; meanwhile studying, with enthusiastic avidity, the works of the great masters. Returning to America, under financial em- barrassment, in 1858, he struggled on, patiently and diligently working out the rich fruition of his European studies. In 1865, he completed his first notable work, the "American Slave Market," representing an auction sale of slaves on the steps of an American court house-a telling picture of the recent past, then warmly applauded, and which indicated unusual dramatic and artistic talent. This was followed by some kindred works of great power, scenes in life of a character to attract curiosity and admiration in words, but not to command purchasers. He left St. Louis, in 1866, for New York, was elected a member of the New York Academy of Design, receiving a warm welcome from the artists and a flattering patronage from the citizens for many minor pieces. In 1869, he was by unanimous vote elected a mem- ber of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, the first non-resident who received that honor.

During the same year, Mr. Noble was chosen, by the directors of the Cin- cinnati University, to the direction of the (McMicken) Academy of Design connected with that institution. Here he has continued to labor with an enthusiasm and singleness of purpose which has already produced flattering results, extending a beneficial influence all over the west, and stimulating a healthy development of art, taste, and education. It is his favorite theory that every manufacturing town should have an industrial school, and the principal city of each state an art school, for the promotion of thorough art education. His residence is in Campbell county, Ky., in one of the suburbs of Cincinnati.

The engagements of his responsible position have left Mr. Noble but little time to cultivate his profession as before, but in the Art Hall of the Cincin- nati Exposition in 1872 were shown some of his pictures, which were much observed for their dramatic effect and brilliant coloring. If we mistake not, the tine portrait in the court house at Owingsville, Ky., of the Hon. Richard H. Menefee, was from the pencil of Mr. Noble-trom an original taken shortly before the death of Kentucky's greatest young statesman. He has all the qualities of a fine historic painter; and there are great scenes in Ken- tucky history which it is hoped Mr. N. will yet perpetuate upon canvas, with a life and power beyond the scope of the best word-pictures.

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CHARLES BULLETT, a sculptor of rare merit, born in Besançon, France, in 1826, made Kentucky his adopted State, settling in Louisville in 1862, and becoming a partner in the firm of Muldoon, Bullett & Co. In 1863 he went to Carrara, Italy, to superintend the marble-works of the house at that point ; and there died, Oct. 4, 1873, aged 47. In completing his education as a sculptor, for which he early displayed great talent, his native township sent him to Paris, and in the Ecole des Beaux Arts he obtained first honors. During the building of the capitol at Columbus, Ohio, he was principal of the sculptural department, and had previously been employed at one of the government buildings in Washington since his arrival from France in 1849. His busts of Geo. D. Prentice, James S. Lithgow, and Archbishop Martin J. Spalding, and numerous fancy pieces, attest his genius. Shortly before - his death, he finished busts of Gen. Henry W. Halleck and Gen. Jerry T. Boyle; and had just completed a model for the Confederate monument at Lexington, Ky., and one for the monument to be erected by the South Caro lina Confederate Association over the Confederate dead.

FRANK DUVENECK, a native of Kentucky, born in Covington, Oct. 15, 1848, is one of the rising young artists of the West. He went abroad early, to the best schools of Europe. In 1870, his masterly treatment of his study heads quite distinguished him at the Munich Academy, where he carried off two of the academy medals. In 1872, he was awarded, for composition, the highest prize in the gift of that great academy. The exquisite finish of his portrait heads, with their broad luminous color, attracted marked attention ; and the Frankfort (Germany) Journal predicted a great future for him- ranking him, in 1873, as one of the best of the younger artists of Munich.

Of the native-born artists of Kentucky, the first in date of birth, and the first in success and fame, was Matthew H. Jouett, already spoken of. The second in date of birth, and probably, also, the second in successful high art culture, was JOSEPH H. BUSH, a native of Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1793, but for many years a resident of Lexington, where he died, Jan. 11, 1865, at the ripe age of 72. His parents were Philip and Eliza Bush (the latter née Palmer, of a family of early emigrants from South Carolina to Kentucky, and whose sister Catharine married Gov. John Adair). His grandparents, Philip and Mary Bush, came from Mannheim, Germany (the home of Schiller, the great German poet, dramatist, and historian), to Winchester, Va., about 1750 or earlier; for during the French and Indian war, in 1755-6, Lieut .- Col. (afterwards General) George Washington, and several of his officers, while their headquarters were at Winchester, boarded at the hotel of Mr. Bush- who ever after talked with enthusiasm of the young colonel, of his noble dignity and the singular power he acquired over all around him, and how, even while he was young, his officers and friends, much as they loved him, were controlled and restrained by his presence. Bishop Meade, in his re- markably interesting work on the "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia," mentions Philip Bush, among many of the marked men who emi- grated to Kentucky at a very early day; and Gen. Cass, in his " France, its King, Court, and Government," p. 113, described him as he was in 1797, as portly, ruddy, though advanced in life, with a large broad-brimmed hat, and with his full clothes of the olden time, looking the very patriarch of his es- tablishment. No resting place in all that valley was more coveted than this, a model of neatness and comfort. When the Duke of Orleans (afterwards Louis Phillippe, King of France, from 1830-48) left France to avoid arrest, during her great revolution, he and two younger brothers stopped in 1797 at Mr. Bush's hotel. While their first mneal was being prepared, Mr. Bush and the king, who had recently visited Mannheim, talked in German of the grand old town, its people and attractions. As one brother was indisposed, the king suggested a wish for his party to eat by themselves-a touch of royal- blood exclusiveness that roused the revolutionary blood of the old German to say-" If you are too good to eat at the same table with my other guests, you are too good to eat in my house ; begone !" And they went.

It was on this tour, that the royal party visited Kentucky, entering at

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Maysville, and stopping, also, at Lexington, Louisville, Bardstown, and other points, on down to Nashville. The duke was so delighted with his reception at Bairdstown, as it was then called, that, forty years after, when king, he sent to Bishop Flaget a clock for his cathedral at that place.

Joseph H. Bush early developed a taste for sketching, and at the age of seventeen was sent by his parents to Philadelphia, under the care of their friend, Henry Clay, and placed under the art instruction of the distinguished artist, Thomas Sully. He remained there for three years, pursuing at the same time his academic education. New Orleans, Natchez, and Louisville were the chosen points where he spent much of his professional life, meeting with constant and gratifying success.

His most noted paintings are those of Gen. Zachary Taylor (full length), Gov. John Adair, Dr. Benjamin W. Dudley, Judge Thomas B. Monroe, Gen. George Rogers Clark, and Gen. Martin D. Hardin. That he was not famous in the old world, and in the art world everywhere, was because he had not that desire for travel abroad, and for free association with the noisy and active ones of his profession, which would have given him a prominence he did not yearn for. He was content to know that the emanations of his pencil were admired and prized by those he was proud to call his friends. He was never married.

His brother, Dr. JAMES M. BUSH, for many years one of the leading professors in the Transylvania Medical School, was still in active practice in Lexington, in July, 1874.

For half a century past, Henry Clay has been regarded in America, if not throughout the entire political world, as the greatest of American statesmen. With like unanimity did the entire art world, in 1874, concede that JOEL T. HART was the greatest of sculptors, living or dead. If such fame were worth the struggle, he had now attained it. If such determination brings its own reward, then had he twice accomplished the purpose of his life.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 112

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452