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William Dunlap (February 19, 1766 – September 28, 1839) was a pioneer of American theater. He was a producer, playwright, and actor, as well as a historian. He managed two of 
He was born in
v.1v.2v.3
Google books *Wilmeth, Don B. and Christopher Bigsby, eds. ''The Cambridge History of American Theatre, Volume I: Beginnings to 1870.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. * Lyons, Maura. ''William Dunlap and the Construction of an American Art History.'' Amherst:
"THE GLORY OF COLUMBIA, HER YEOMANRY" (1803) by William Dunlap
* * * William Dunlap Collection. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, William 1766 births 1839 deaths 18th-century American dramatists and playwrights 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists American male painters 19th-century American painters National Academy of Design faculty National Academy of Design members Painters from New Jersey Writers from New Jersey 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey 19th-century American male writers 18th-century American male writers 18th-century theatre managers 19th-century theatre managers 19th-century American male artists
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's earliest and most prominent theaters, the John Street Theatre (from 1796–98) and the Park Theatre (from 1798–1805). He was also an artist, despite losing an eye in childhood.
He was born in Perth Amboy
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...
, New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
, the son of an army officer wounded at the Battle of Quebec in 1759. In 1783, he painted a portrait of George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
, while staying at Rockingham in Rocky Hill. The painting is now owned by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and po ...
. He later studied art under Benjamin West
Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Another teacher was Abraham Delanoy, with whom he had a handful of lessons in New York. After returning to America in 1787, he worked exclusively in the theater for 18 years, resuming painting out of economic necessity in 1805. By 1817, he was a full-time painter.
In his lifetime he produced more than sixty plays, most of which were adaptations or translations from French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
or German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
works. A few were original: these were based on American themes and had American characters. However, he is best known for his encyclopedic three-volume ''History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States,'' which was published in 1834, and which is now an invaluable source of information about artists, collecting, and artistic life generally in the colonial and federal periods.
His plays include:
*'' The Father'' (1789)
* ''Andre'' (1798)
*''The Stranger'' (1798)
*''The Italian Father
''The Italian Father: A Comedy, in Five Acts'' (1799) is an American comedic play by William Dunlap, though substantially adapted from Part II of '' The Honest Whore'' (c. 1606) by Thomas Dekker.
Dunlap considered it his best play. It was popula ...
'' (1799)
*''False Shame'' (1799)
*''The Virgin of the Sun'' (1800)
*''The Glory of Columbia, Her Yeomanry
''The Glory of Columbia, Her Yeomanry'' is an 1803 play by the American playwright William Dunlap. It was first performed at the Park Theatre, New York, on 4 July 1803.
''The Glory of Columbia'' is a piece resonating with the populist
Po ...
'' (1803)
*''Memoirs of George Frederick Cooke'' (1813)
*''A Trip to Niagara'' (1828)
In 1825 Dunlap was one of the founders of the National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...
, and taught at its school. He published his ''History of the American Theater'' in two volumes in 1832.
References
Further reading
* William Dunlap. ''A history of the rise and progress of the arts of design in the United States'', new ed. Boston: C.E. Goodspeed & Co., 1918; p. 344v.1
Google books *Wilmeth, Don B. and Christopher Bigsby, eds. ''The Cambridge History of American Theatre, Volume I: Beginnings to 1870.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. * Lyons, Maura. ''William Dunlap and the Construction of an American Art History.'' Amherst:
University of Massachusetts Press
The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...
, 2005.
"THE GLORY OF COLUMBIA, HER YEOMANRY" (1803) by William Dunlap
External links
* * * William Dunlap Collection. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, William 1766 births 1839 deaths 18th-century American dramatists and playwrights 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists American male painters 19th-century American painters National Academy of Design faculty National Academy of Design members Painters from New Jersey Writers from New Jersey 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights People from Perth Amboy, New Jersey 19th-century American male writers 18th-century American male writers 18th-century theatre managers 19th-century theatre managers 19th-century American male artists