William Henry Powell (February 14, 1823 – October 6, 1879), was an American artist who was born and died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Powell is known for a

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

of the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...

, of which one copy hangs in the

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

state capitol building and the other, in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. Powell has a second piece of artwork displayed in the

United States Capitol Rotunda The United States Capitol rotunda is the tall central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda is located below the ...

, the '' Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto A.D. 1541.''

Career

William Henry Powell studied under artist Henry Inman in

prior to receiving a commission from the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1847 to paint the last large historical painting in the Capitol rotunda. Powell selected the discovery of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

by Hernando de Soto as the subject of the painting and completed it in 1853. Its positive reception nationwide lead to the Ohio legislature requesting that Powell paint

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...

's victory in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. The result was the even more popular painting, ''Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie.'' The painting was so well received, that in 1865 the United States Congress requested that Powell paint them a copy for one of the stairwells in the north side of the Capitol building. The painting that emerged was created in a temporary studio in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and larger than the original in Ohio. It was finished in 1873. William Henry Powell died six years later. He was interred at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

in Brooklyn, New York. During his lifetime, Powell was elected into 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 f ...

.http://www.nationalacademy.org/academy/national-academicians/?na=P National Academy of Design website - Deceased members under P.

Selected works

File:Battle erie.jpg, Powell's ''Battle of Lake Erie'' larger version found at the

. File:Discovery of the Mississippi.jpg, Powell's ''Discovery of the Mississippi by

De Soto De Soto commonly refers to * Hernando de Soto (c. 1495 – 1542), Spanish explorer * DeSoto (automobile), an American automobile brand from 1928 to 1961 De Soto, DeSoto, Desoto, or de Soto may also refer to: Places in the United States of Ameri ...

, 1541, A.D. File:Columbian230-1c-2.jpg, Columbus in Sight of Land. From a painting by William H. Powell File:Columbus before the Council of Salamanca by William Henry Powell, 1847.JPG, ''Columbus before the Council of Salamanca'', 1847

Notes

External links

* People associated with the United States Capitol 1823 births 1879 deaths 19th-century American painters Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery American male painters 19th-century American male artists Painters from New York City National Academy of Design members {{US-painter-1820s-stub