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 Armistead, 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
1953.5.99
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 87.6 x 136.8 cm (34 1/2 x 53 7/8 in.) | framed: 114 x 162.2 x 3.9 cm (44 7/8 x 63 7/8 x 1 9/16 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 End of the Hunt from c. 1800 is a companion to The Start of the Hunt, depicting the conclusion of the fox hunt that the first painting begins. Together the two paintings form a narrative sequence—the start and the end of the hunt—that was a common format in English sporting painting. The companion format demonstrates the English sporting tradition's influence on American art in the Federal period, and the two paintings together provide a visual record of the fox hunting culture that was adopted by the American gentry from their English counterparts.
Cultural Impact
The Start and End of the Hunt together form a narrative sequence in the English sporting tradition, demonstrating how American elite culture adopted English sporting customs in the Federal period. The two paintings provide a visual record of fox hunting culture in early America, showing that the American gentry maintained the English sporting traditions that would eventually become part of American rural culture.
Why It Matters
The End of the Hunt completes the narrative sequence begun by The Start of the Hunt: the two paintings together form a fox hunting narrative in the English sporting tradition that demonstrates the cultural influence of England on the American gentry in the Federal period. The c. 1800 companion paintings record the sporting culture of early America.
