Provenance
Commissioned by Bartholomew Trueheart (1770-1834), Powhatan County, Virginia. Sold (when Selma, the Trueheart estate, was sold, date unknown), to Dr. Henderson. Given by him to Trueheart's daughter, Martha Armistead;[1] to her daughter, Eliza Bolling; to her son, Wyndham Bolling; to his first cousin once removed, Wyndham Bolling Blanton, Richmond, Virginia, by whom sold in 1948 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1953.
[1] In her provenance provided to William Campbell on 10 January 1962 (in NGA curatorial files), Mrs. Wyndham B. Blanton makes no mention of Dr. Henderson buying this and _The End of the Hunt_ at the sale of Selma and then giving them to Martha Artmistead, but this chain of events is documented in her 1964 book, _West Hill, Cumberland County, Virginia: The Story of Those Who Have Loved It_ (privately printed), 26.
Accession Number
1953.5.98
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 88.1 x 139.1 cm (34 11/16 x 54 3/4 in.) | framed: 113.7 x 164.8 x 3.8 cm (44 3/4 x 64 7/8 x 1 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
The Start of the Hunt from c. 1800 depicts the beginning of a fox hunt in the manner of English sporting painting that was fashionable among the American gentry in the early 19th century. The subject of the hunt—particularly the fox hunt—was adopted by wealthy Americans from the English sporting tradition, and the painting demonstrates the cultural influence of England on American elite culture in the Federal period. The c. 1800 date places this in the early Federal period, when American elite culture was still closely modeled on English precedents.
Cultural Impact
The Start of the Hunt is important in the history of American art because it demonstrates the English sporting tradition's influence on American elite culture in the Federal period. The fox hunt subject was adopted by wealthy Americans from the English sporting tradition, and the painting shows that American elite culture in the early 19th century was still closely modeled on English precedents before the development of a specifically American artistic tradition.
Why It Matters
The Start of the Hunt is American elite culture following English precedent: a fox hunt in the manner of English sporting painting that demonstrates the cultural influence of England on the American gentry in the Federal period. The c. 1800 painting shows American elite culture closely modeled on English sporting tradition.
