The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 20, 2020

Samuel Williams

c. 1817

Washington Allston

(American, 1779-1843)

America, 19th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 172.5 x 142.5 x 14 cm (67 15/16 x 56 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 142.2 x 111.8 cm (56 x 44 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1965.474

Location

205 Federal American

Fun Fact

Allston experimented with painting recipes, even attempting to mix his pigment colors with skimmed milk.

Description

Allston’s portrait of his London banker and business agent explores the experience of reverie. Williams
looks off absently, perhaps inspired by the pictures in the book he holds. With its view of an Italianate
landscape beyond the columns of this invented setting, the painting seemingly invites viewers to join
the sitter in dreaming about faraway places.

Provenance
Timothy Williams, Boston; Mrs. W. Pratt; Theodore Lyman, Brookline, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence A. Fleischman, Detroit; Kennedy Galleries, New York
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 161 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 200 archive.org
Exhibition history

Boston, The Athenaeum Gallery: Annual Exhibition (1835), no. 60

Boston, Harding's Gallery, Exhibition of Pictures Painted by Washington Allston, (1839) no. 34

Boston, The Athenaeum Gallery, Annual Exhibition (1850), no. 62

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Catalogue of Works of Art Exhibited: Pt. 2, Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, and Decorative Art, (1881) no. 203

Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Washington Allston (1948), no. 110

Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Collection in Progress (1955), no. 4

United States Information Agency, Tour of South America (1956-57), no. 5

United States Information Agency, Tour of Greece and Israel (1958), no. 8

Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Center, American Painting 1760-1960, (3 March - 3 April1960), p. 16.

Tucson, University of Arizona Art Gallery, American Painting 1765-1963, (1964), illus. pg. 17, cat. no, 2.

Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Golden Anniversary Acquisitions, (1966), cat. no. 54

Coral Gables, Lowe Art Museum, The Paintings of Washington Allston, (6 March - 13 April 1975) cat. no, 17, discussed in text on pg. 9.

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, "Man of Genius" The Art of Washington Allston (1779-1843), (1979) fig. 48, p. 71, discussed in text on pg. 86.

Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).

Source URL: https://cmaweb23-bbn-2.clevelandart.org/art/1965.474