Alexander Mitchell (1817-1887)

Drawing

Milwaukee Public Library

Name/Title

Alexander Mitchell (1817-1887)

Type of Drawing

Charcoal

Artwork Details

Medium

Crayon on Paper

Subject Person or Organization

Alexander Mitchell

Collection

Permanent Art Collection, Wisconsin Art Collection

Acquisition

Accession

1887.1

Source or Donor

John L. Mitchell

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Artist

Lydia Ely

Date made

1887

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature and Date

Transcription

"Lydia Ely"

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Framed Size

Height

39 in

Width

33 in

Dimension Description

Image Size

Height

26 in

Width

20-1/2 in

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Milwaukee Road

Notes

Mitchell was president of the Milwaukee Road from 1864 to 1887.

Related Publications

Notes

Lydia Ely has two essays, "Art and Artists of Milwaukee" and "Art Exhibitions and Art Patrons," in: History of Milwaukee from Its First Settlement to the Year 1895 (V2) by Howard Louis Conard (Call Number 977.595 C74H). A Book of Autographs by Lydia Ely Hewitt (Call Number 091.5 B724). Women's Work: Early Wisconsin Women Artists, exhibition catalog for exhibition at West Bend Art Museum, October 3-November 11, 2011 (Call Number 709.775 W872). Soldiers' Monument Album by John S. Conway (1898) (Call Number Milwaukee Historic Photo Collection 17). Famous Wisconsin Artists and Architects by Hannah Heidi Levy (Call Number 927.573 L668). Book of the Bazaar of All Nations: Milwaukee, May 6-14, 1896 (Milwaukee, WI: Marr & Richards Engraving Co., 1896) (Call Number 917.7595 B724). My Dear Mrs. Hewitt: Letters of Fanny Burling Buttrick, 9 July 1864 - 8 September 1864 (Hales Corners, WI: West Side Soldiers Aid Society, 2008) (Call Number 92 B9893).

Interpretative Labels

Label

Alexander Mitchell (1817-1887) was one of early Milwaukee's most prominent citizens. A banker, Mitchell founded the Marine Bank of Wisconsin. Mitchell also was long-time president of the Milwaukee Road. Milwaukee Public Library Archives & Special Collections hold the Archives of the Milwaukee Road, one of the most extensive and important collections of railroad history. John Mitchell, the donor and son of the portrait's subject, was president of the MPL Board of Trustees from 1884-1886. Mitchell was himself also an avid art collector, and the choice of Lydia Ely for this portrait reflects his good taste. Ely was an important nineteenth-century Wisconsin woman artist. She was instrumental in the construction of John Conway's "The Victorious Charge," Wisconsin's most important Civil War monument located in the Court of Honor across from the Central Library. The pairing here--Mitchell and Ely--is a fitting one; it was Mitchell who first proposed and financed the monument, but Ely who would help see it to completion, more than a decade after Mitchell's death. The Mitchell mansion was located next door to the Central Library building, at the site of what is now the Wisconsin Club. Ely’s work is rarely seen. Explore related resources across Milwaukee Public Library collections: https://milwaukee.countycat.mcfls.org/MyAccount/MyList/10574

Research Notes

Notes

#19 in 1981 National [American] Portrait Gallery Survey