Provenance
Recorded as from the Clifford Crowninshield House, Salem, Massachusetts, possibly removed before 1916.[1] (Harry Shaw Newman, New York); sold 1954 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1956.
[1] According to the Garbisch records, the painting hung at one time over a mantel in this house. A 1916 photograph of the parlor mantel shows a large mirror, not a painting (Frank Cousins and Phil M. Riley, _The Wood-carver of Salem, Samuel McIntire, His Life and Work_, Boston, 1916: pl. 63). If the painting had been over this mantel, it must have been removed by 1916. The house had another mantel as well. An illustration of 1940 does not include the overmantel area (Fiske Kimball, _Mr. Samuel McIntire, Carver, the Architect of Salem_, Portland, Maine,1940: fig. 258).
Accession Number
1956.13.6
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 94 x 134.6 cm (37 x 53 in.) | framed: 109.8 x 151.1 x 4.4 cm (43 1/4 x 59 1/2 x 1 3/4 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
George Ropes (1788-1819) was an American painter known for the detailed, topographical views of Salem and its surroundings that make him an important documentarian of early American New England. Mount Vernon from 1806 depicts George Washington's estate in the detailed, topographical manner that distinguishes Ropes's best work from the more romantic landscape painting of his contemporaries. The 1806 date places this in the early years of American nationhood, when views of Washington's estate were popular as expressions of national pride and reverence for the founding father.
Cultural Impact
Mount Vernon is important in the history of American painting because it demonstrates the topographical view tradition that was one of the most popular types of early American painting. Views of Washington's estate—combining topographical accuracy with national reverence—were popular in the early years of the republic as expressions of national identity, and the 1806 painting shows this tradition applied to the most revered site in the new nation.
Why It Matters
Mount Vernon is Ropes's topographical American view: Washington's estate rendered in the detailed, topographical manner of an important documentarian of early American New England. The 1806 painting shows the topographical view tradition applied to the most revered site in the young republic—an expression of national reverence for the founding father.
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