Monday, December 6, 2021

Paintings of Women by John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852)

.John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Mary Scott Swan 1815
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Sarah Russell Church 1800
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Theodosia Burr
Theodosia Burr Alston was the daughter of Aaron Burr. She was educated at home by her father & was able to write fluently in Greek & Latin, as well as French & English. Aaron Burr was ahead of his time in believing that a young woman should be given the opportunity to receive the same education as a man.

When Theodosia was 17 years old, & her father was about to become Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, (both had received the same number of votes in the electoral college while running for president), Theodosia married Joseph Alston, the governor of South Carolina. They honeymooned at Niagra Falls, the first known American couple to do so. Their son, Aaron Burr Alston ("Gampy"), was born in the following year.

John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Mother and Son 1800

John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Mrs Marinus Willett and Her Son Marinus Jr 1802
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Elizabeth Maria Church 1799
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Theodosia Burr Alston
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Mary Ellis Bell (Mrs Isaac Bell) 1827John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Mrs. Daniel Strobel, Jr. (Anna Church Strobel) and Her Son George, ca. 1799

John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) was born at Kingston, New York. He was employed by a print-seller in New York, and was first instructed in art by Archibald Robinson (1765–1835), a Scotsman who was afterwards one of the directors of the American Academy of the Fine Arts. He went to Philadelphia, where he spent time in the studio of Gilbert Stuart and copied some of Stuart's portraits, including one of Aaron Burr, who placed him under Gilbert Stuart as a pupil.

In 1796, Aaron Burr sent Vanderlyn to Paris, where he studied for 5 years. He returned to the United States in 1801 and lived in the home of Burr, then the Vice President, where he painted the well-known likeness of Burr and his daughter.
John Vanderlyn (American Neoclassical Painter, 1775-1852) Self Portrait.