Writing the Declaration of Independence 1776 cph

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (August 8, 1863 – March 18, 1930) was an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

best known for his series of 78 scenes from

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

, entitled ''The Pageant of a Nation'', the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist.

Early life and education

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Ferris was the son of Stephen James Ferris (1835-1915) : a portrait painter who was a devotee of

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (; 11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academic painting, academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living art ...

(his teacher after whom he was named), and also an admirer of Mariano Fortuny. He grew up around art; he was trained by his father and his uncles Edward Moran and Thomas Moran were both acclaimed painters. Ferris enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1879 and trained further at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

beginning in 1883 under

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French Academic art, academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classicism, classical subjects, with a ...

. He also met his namesake

, who greatly influenced his decision to paint scenes from American history. Ferris wrote, " érôme'saxiom was that one would paint best that with which he is most familiar".

Career

His early subjects were Orientalist in nature since that movement was in vogue when he was young. In 1882, he exhibited a painting entitled ''Feeding the Ibis'' which was valued at $600. By 1895, he had gained a reputation as a historical painter, and he embarked on his dream of creating a series of paintings that told a historical narrative. In 1898, he sold ''General Howe's Levee, 1777'', but he later realized that such a series could not be complete if the separate paintings could not be kept together. Consequently, he never sold another, but he did sell the reproduction rights to various publishing companies. This had the effect of greatly popularizing his work, as these companies made prints, postcards, calendars, and blank-backed trade cards to use in advertisements. Laminated cards of these works were still being sold as late as 1984.

Personal life

Ferris married Annette Amelia Ryder in 1894, and the couple had a daughter named Elizabeth Mary. He died in

in 1930 at age 66.

Legacy

The paintings showed idealized portrayals of famous moments from

. The complete series was shown at

Congress Hall Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...

in Philadelphia from 1913 to 1930. In later years, it was shown in a number of locations, including the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, before being returned to the Ferris family. His works were widely popular for many years, but modern critics are far less generous in their praise. The

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

claims that his historical paintings confuse "verity with

verisimilitude In philosophy, verisimilitude (or truthlikeness) is the notion that some propositions are closer to being true than other propositions. The problem of verisimilitude is the problem of articulating what it takes for one false theory to be close ...

", and art historian Gerald Ackerman describes them as "splendid in the accuracy of accessories, clothing and especially in the details of land conveyances and ships", but "extremely dry in execution and rather monotonous in composition."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome 1863 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American male artists 19th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters Académie Julian alumni American male painters Painters from Philadelphia American Orientalist painters Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni