Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle

Art

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle

Entry/Object ID

SS.79.7 a-b

Description

a. Painting: Full-length portrait of elderly man with long white hair and beard dressed in ragged jacket, pants and boots buttoned up the side with a pouch strapped over shoulder: figure posed with left hand cupped over eyes, right leg bent and right hand holding walking stick; cloudy sky in background above romantic mountains; signed, lower right: "G. W. Waters/1871". b. Frame

Artwork Details

Medium

Canvas, Oil Paint, Wood, Canvas, Oil paint, Wood

Subject Person or Organization

Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905), Rip Van Winkle

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

George Wellington Waters

Attribution

Artist

Date made

1871

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Transcription

See Description.

Other Names and Numbers

Other Number

SS.79.7

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Sight

Height

37-1/2 in

Width

28-3/4 in

Dimension Notes

Display Dimensions: 37 1/2 x 28 3/4 in. (95.3 x 73 cm)

Dimension Description

Framed

Height

43-1/2 in

Width

33-1/4 in

Depth

2-3/4 in

Dimension Notes

Display Dimensions: 43 1/2 x 33 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (110.5 x 84.5 x 7 cm)

Condition

Notes

Remarks: Canvas: uniformly cracked surface; light speckles in trouser area; one light scratch at bottom on rock left side; frame has significant old nicks and losses; all four corners are chipped; missing bits of molding inner top right side; round nick left side; nicks along bottom edge; losses to and peeling gilding left side

Notes

Remarks: Felicity Campbell examined the canvas for possible inclusion in the 2012 Winter Antiques Show Loan Exhibition: the canvas is wax-lined and there is a slight yellowish cast to the varnish overall; there appear to be some old re-touches and pinpoint flaking; there is a bit of staining in the sky, but treatment may reveal more issues than are currently visible, therefore more work; Campbell suggests displaying it as-is; Marylou Davis examined the frame: this is the liner for a larger, more ornate frame, so it is very much more modest and plain than what may have been on the work originally; small nicks can be touched up prior to display [Jessa J. Krick, 9/8/2011].

Notes

Remarks: Details of condition: Small hole through canvas at elbow; paint lifting up at lower right left corners and middle right section; all over cracking; small gouges on left side and bottom, upper left corner in bad shape; frame missing some beading.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905)

Notes

Subject

Person or Organization

Louis du Pont Irving (1883-1961)

Notes

Former owner

Person or Organization

Rip Van Winkle

Notes

Subject

General Notes

Note Type

Curatorial Remarks

Note

For Visions exhibition, packed in Crate #7. Marylou Davis, frame conservator, suggested that the current existing frame is the liner for another more elaborate mid-to-late-19th-century frame, such as the frame on the Huntington painting of Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel (PM.71.2 a-b) [Jessa J. Krick, 10/26/2011]. Also, HHV does not have Hudson River School paintings in the collection, but this piece has a lovely rendering of the Catskills in the background at Rip's feet [Jessa J. Krick, 9/12/2019]. This painting was installed in the Dining Room at Sunnyside for the 2019-2020 seasons, in honor of the bicentennial of the publication of The Sketch-Book [Jessa J. Krick, 9/12/2019].

Note Type

General Note

Note

Note: Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905) made his first success in Laura Keene's company as a Trenchard in "Our American Cousins" (1858) and as Caleb Plummer in "The Cricket on the Hearth" (1859). His most famous role was as Rip Van Winkle in Dion Boucicault's 1865 play of the same name.

Note Type

StorageNote

Note

Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Union Church, Storage, Unit 6 Slot 10