Caleb Beck

Art

-

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Caleb Beck

Entry/Object ID

VC.58.19 a-b

Description

a. Half-length portrait of a middle-aged man, sitter turned slightly to the right, head turned slightly left giving three-quarter view; center-parted long brown hair (seemingly not a wig); fair, but highly colored complexion; fleshy face; somewhat aquiline nose; brown eyes; white steinkirk cravat; blue coat and waistcoat, lapel-less, with silver buttons; black flat-cocked hat with light band under left arm; at figure's left, brown background, with two navigational instruments, a back-staff and a cross-staff, hung on wall; at figure's right, just above shoulder, a vertical line, indicating end of brown background; over the subject's right shoulder, the painted framing and a marine scene, with a three-masted square-rigged sailing ship (with gun-ports, or imitation gun-ports), possibly a frigate, furling sail against a blue and rose sky; the portrait set within rounded rectangle, with painted spandrels in brown; unsigned. b. Frame: Pear wood; series of cyma curves; rectangular.

Artwork Details

Medium

Canvas, Oil Paint, wood (pear), Canvas, oil paint, wood (pear)

Subject Person or Organization

Caleb Beck

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Nehemiah Partridge

Attribution

Artist

Date made

1724 - 1725

Other Names and Numbers

Other Number

VC.58.2a-b

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

30 in

Width

26 in

Dimension Notes

Display Dimensions: 30 x 26 in. (76.2 x 66 cm)

Condition

Notes

Remarks: Object was recently partially conserved as a result of slight damage incurred during loan of the object to Schenectady Historical Society. Conservation work (several small areas of paint lift) completed by Felicity Campbell, December 2010. See object folder for images and complete information re: damage and treatment.

Notes

Remarks: There are two areas of lifting paint. These areas are both related to previous fill material and are in the sitter's mouth and at the left sid of the sitter's head. There is a matte area in the varnish at bottom center. The lifting will be consolidated with sturgeon glue. The matte area will be resaturated with MS2A. (Condition analysis and treament proposal: Shawn Digney-Peer) NOTE: mold removed onsite by Shawn Digney-Peer

Notes

Remarks: Live white-colored mold on surface; spot inside corner of proper right eye; two spots below proper right eye; two clusters proper left mid-torso.

Notes

Remarks: March 1958 Restoration by the Kecks, Brooklyn, N.Y., March, 1958, included relining, cleaning, repair of vandalism and abrasion (especially of the face), repainting (of hat), restretching, etc. For details, see folder on file.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Caleb Beck

Notes

Subject

Person or Organization

Van Cortlandt Family

Notes

Former owner

Related Entries

Notes

VC.58.18 a-b - Painting - Used together

General Notes

Note Type

Curatorial Remarks

Note

From original cataloging notes, 1958: "Stylistically, there are many similarities between VC.58.18 a-b and VC.58.19 a-b and the work of the New England mariner, Capt. Thomas Smith. The attribution of this portrait to Pieter Vanderlyn, which occurs in the Parke-Bernet sale catalog cited above, is not sound in any way; indeed it borders on the ridiculous... The dates indicated as the earliest and latest possible, are, those of the marriage of the Becks, and the death of the Captain. Naturally, the age of the subjects in the portraits points toward a date in the last decade or so of this period." Mrs. Beck's maiden name was Mol, Fairly having been her first husband. Capt. Beck is supposed to have promised his wife one voyage more, from which he never returned. See object files for VC.58.19 a-b - Especially Schenectady County Historical Society, September 1966, Vol. 10, #1, for attribution to so-called "Veeder Limner" and more recent research on subject's identity. The day book of Evert Wendell that mentions payment for the two portraits of the Becks is in the collection of the New-York Historical Society [Jessa J. Krick, 2/2/2012].

Note Type

General Note

Note

Van Cortlandt family possession

Note Type

StorageNote

Note

Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Van Cortlandt Manor, Parlour