William Jennys Art
American, 1774-1859
William Jennys, also known as J. William Jennys, is an important American primitive portrait painter who was active from about 1790 to 1810. He traveled throughout New England seeking commissions in rural areas and small towns. Although the Inventory of American Painting lists more than one hundred works by William Jennys and an additional eighty ascribed to him, there is surprisingly little known about this prolific artist's life. He may have been the son, or perhaps the younger brother, of the portraitist Richard Jennys (active 1766–1801). Both artists worked in New Milford, Connecticut, beginning about 1795 and William's earliest known paintings were produced there. An advertisement which he placed in the Norwich (Connecticut) Packet in 1793, however, indicates that by then he was a practicing professional. Between 1797 and 1798, Jennys worked in New York City. After 1800, he traveled through New England, moving up the Connecticut River Valley to paint in Hatfield and Deerfield, Massachusetts, around 1801 and thereafter visiting Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Newburyport, Massachusetts and several towns in Vermont. He produced primarily waist-length portraits, and was known active through 1807. Paintings by Jennys can be found on view in several important collections of American art, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
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Artist: William Jennys
18th century diptych portraits man and woman American formal dress flower
By William Jennys
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present pair of portraits would make an exceptional addition to any collection of early American art not only because they were painted by the notable William Jennys, but also because the sitters are members of notable and influential New England families. In addition, these pendants have impeccable provenance: they have never left ownership of the decedents of the Kimball family and this is the first time they have been available for purchase.
David Kimball (1766-1848) and Nancy Stacy Kimball (1774-1844) were members of historic Massachusetts families. David Kimball is a sixth-generation decedent of Richard Kimball (d. 1675) and Ursula Scott (d. 1659), who emigrated from Rattlasden, Suffolk County, England to Watertown MA around 1634. The family then relocated in 1637 to Ipswich, the city with which the family is now most strongly identified, when Richard was appointed to be a wheelwright.[1] Nancy likewise had early New England ancestry, descended from Simon Stacy and Elizabeth Clark, who were married in London in 1620.[2]
Nancy Stacy was the second wife of David Kimball, and the two were married in 1799. Given this, the present pendant portraits were likely completed shortly after the marriage. David had two children by his first wife Mary Morse, who died in September of 1798. David and Nancy would have nine additional children between 1801 and 1815.[3]
Most notably, the couple were parents of the Boston politician and showman Moses Kimball (1809-1895).[2][3] Moses would found the Boston Museum, an early for-profit museum and theater opened in 1841 that resembled European curiosity cabinets: the museum displayed paintings of Thomas Scully and Charles Peale alongside Chinese artwork, stuffed animals, dwarves and mermaids. Alongside these exhibits, visitors could attend the theater which held performances by gymnasts and contortionists, followed by performances of Shakespeare and Dickens.[4] This museum set the model for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which when founded in 1870 held a similarly diverse collection and appealed to the interests of a diverse set of visitors.[5] Moreover, some Greek antiquities from Moses Kimball's museum were eventually given to the MFA and Moses donated approximately $5,000 to the MFA's endowment upon his death.[6][7]
William Jennys (1774–1859), also known as J. William Jennys, is an important American primitive portrait...
Category
1790s Academic William Jennys Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
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