The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Self-Portrait with Five Muses

Self-Portrait with Five Muses

c. 1880
(American, 1836–1908)
America, Ohio, Cleveland
oil on paper mounted to board
Unframed: 73.3 x 59.7 cm (28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in.)
Delia E. Holden Fund 2012.30
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Church "spoke" at his funeral via an Edison phonograph recording he made for the occasion.

Description

Lifelong Chagrin Falls resident Church is considered one of the great self-taught artists of 19th-century America. A painter, sculptor, and musician by passion, he offered his appearance and enthusiasms in this highly imaginative self-portrait, surrounding himself with a squadron of miniature winged muses. These figures represent not only the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and music, but also Church's profession of blacksmithing (identified as a crowned figure holding a hammer and anvil). A savvy entrepreneur, Church launched the first commercial art gallery in northeast Ohio: Church's Art Museum, at Geauga Lake, in 1888. Its inventory consisted entirely of his own work.
  • The artist; Jessie Church Sargent (the artist's daughter), Chagrin Falls, Ohio;
    Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rosenberg, New York (1937); Private Collection by descent; [Washburn Gallery, New York, (2012)]
  • Rosenberg, Sam. "Henry Church of Chagrin." In They Taught Themselves; American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century, edited by Sidney Janis. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1965. Mentioned: pp.102, 104-106; Reproduced: p.105
    Janis, Sidney. They Taught Themselves; American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1965. Mentioned: pp.102, 104-106; Reproduced: p.105
    Rosenberg, Sam. "Henry Church: 1836-1908." In American Folk Painters of Three Centuries, edited by Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong. New York, NY: Hudson Hills Press, 1980. Mentioned: pp.176, 178-180; Reproduced: p.181
    Christian, Barbara. "Henry Church finds place in Whitney's folk art." (Source unrecorded, date uncertain; probably July-Dec. 1980). Mentioned and reproduced (unpaginated)
    Theis, Jana M. "Chagrin Falls' Henry Church: The artist who had the last word." Western Reserve Magazine 2, no.1 (November/December 1983). Reproduced: p.34
    Babinsky, Jane E., and Miriam Church Stem. The Life and Work of Henry Church, Jr. Chagrin Falls, OH: Privately Printed 1987. Mentioned: p.33; Reproduced: p.34 (unpaginated) uploads
    Robinson, William H., et. al. Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946: Community and Diversity in Early Modern America. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Reproduced: p.60; Mentioned: p.61, 245
    Ohio Historical Society, and Ohio History Connection. Timeline: A Publication of the Ohio Historical Society 21, No.1 (January/February 2004). Columbus, OH: The Ohio Historical Society, 2004. Mentioned: pp.7-8; Reproduced: Back Cover
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Artistic Excellence: Acquisitions 2012-14. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned: p.49
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 57 (May/June 2017). Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017. Reproduced: p.13 default
    Millsom Studer, Carol, and Victor Studer. "Henry Church Jr." In Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology, edited by Elsa Weiner Longhauser and Harald Szeemann. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1998. Mentioned: pp.45, 223; Reproduced: p.47
    Cozzolino, Robert, ed. Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art, exh. cat. (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2021). Reproduced p. 232
  • Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (June 12-September 5, 2021); Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (October 7, 2021-January 2, 2022); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (February 19-May 15, 2022).
    Artlens Exhibition 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24, 2017-May 29, 2019).
    "Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology," Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 10-May 17, 1998; High Museum of Art, July 14-September 20, 1998; Amon Carter Museum and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, October 31, 1998-January 24, 1999; Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, NY, February 20-April 18, 1999; Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, May 15-August 15, 1999; Museum of American Folk Art, New York, September 19-December 11, 1999
    Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 19-July 21, 1996).
    "…seeds of the future," CompassRose Gallery, Chicago, February 14-March 25, 1989
    "American Folk Painters of Three Centuries," Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, February 26-May 13, 1980
    "Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting," Museum of American Folk Art, New York, 1974-1975 [unconfirmed]
    "They Taught Themselves: American Primitive Painters of the 20th Century," Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, February 9-March 7, 1942
  • {{cite web|title=Self-Portrait with Five Muses|url=false|author=Henry Church|year=c. 1880|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.30