Portrait of Gertrude Snyder Harder (Mrs. William G. Harder)(?-?)

Date1820-1825 (probably)

Attributed to Ammi Phillips (1788-1865)

OriginAmerica, New York, Columbia County, Ghent

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 30 9/16 x 24 3/4in. (77.6 x 62.9cm) and Framed: 36 1/4 x 30 15/16in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.100.29

DescriptionHalf length heavy woman seated in side chair which is pink with red bamboo turnings, holds open book in right hand, thumb marking her place, book bound in brown with red and gold on spine against a light blue violet background. Lady dressed in black long sleeved dress with white over scarg, black bow tied under her double chin which ties the cap with lace (white) around her face. Details of lace picked in heavier oils. One can see her ear through her cap, hands are crossed in her lap, paler pink face than her husband.
Label TextThese portraits are typical of the early paintings by Ammi Phillips which show cool, flat backgrounds, unshaded details of costume and figure, and an impersonal view of men, women, and children of gentle, dreamlike character. The letter Mr. Harder holds in his hand identifies him and the companion portrait of his wife. Its postmark suggests that the artist had recently arrived in Ghent from Albany, New York. The Harders were farmers ‚ and the parents of a son who later married another of Phillips' subjects.

Ammi Phillips was born in Coalbrook, CN, the son of Samuel Phillips, Jr., and Milla Kellog Phillips. Very little is known of his early life until 1811, the date of signed portraits of two residents of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was an itinerant portrait painter like John Brewster, Erastus Salisbury Field, and Joseph H. Davis, also represented in this exhibition. Ammi Phillips's work‚ however, varies considerably in style and it has been the task of researchers to attempt a logical explanation to associate this large body of varied portraiture to one artist. The influences which lead to the development of Phillips's technique and style are yet to be adequately defined. It is fair to say, however, that his early portraits, including his likenesses of Mr. and Mrs. Harder, show a more original treatment of composition than later examples, which have sameness in pose ‚ and execution. Ammi Phillips died on July 11, 1865, with a net worth at that time in property and real estate of $850. He can be considered an example of a self-taught painter who continued to develop various solutions to painting problems as his work progressed.
MarkingsNone found
ProvenanceFrom the subject to her daughter-in-law's sister and brother-in-law, Rev. Nathaniel Goodell Spalding and Harriet Dorr Spalding, Schodack Landing, NY; to their son and daughter-in-law, Nathaniel Bull Spalding and Cora Boyce Spalding, Schenectady and Schodack Landing, NY; about 1925, bought by J. Stuart Halladay and Herrel George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor.