Portrait of John Mix (1751-?)

DateProbably 1788

Mediumoil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 32 1/2" x 25 1/2" and Framed: 36 5/8" x 30"

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1940.100.2

DescriptionOil portrait of man seated in wooden side chair with curved crest rail (identical to chair in wife's portrait), against a tan background viewed half-length. Man and chair are turned sideways to sitter's left. He wears black pants, with a tall black hat with a circular diamond pin fastened on it on his lap. His coat is silver, with large buttons down the right side and similar large buttons at the turned back cuffs on the sleeves. A white shirt with what appear to be square pink cuff links in sleeves. Grey vest buttoned half-way and ruffles of white shirt visible at vest and white knot in neckcloth. He holds a pocketbook or day book in his left hand and is writing in it with a pencil in his right. His hair is black, with curls or rolls over his ears, and pulled back in a ponytail. He has dark brown eyes, and dark arching eyebrows. His hands are poorly formed.
Label TextThe identity of the artist responsible for this portrait and its companion of John Mix is the subject of continuing debate. The paintings were attributed first to an artist named McKay because of superficial similarities between Mrs. Mix's pose and that of Mrs. John Bush in McKay's signed portrait (in another collection). In a subsequent article in Art in America, Susan Sawitzky further discussed the authorship of the Mix portraits and their relationship to paintings by Abraham Delanoy and Reuben Moulthrop, both of whom are known to have worked in the New Haven area. Sawitzky ascribed the painting of the faces to Delanoy and the execution of the figures to Moulthrop, who may have served briefly as Delanoy's assistant. While some aspects of the Mix portraits do compare closely with works by those artists, dissimilarities exist, particularly in the manner of drawing and rendering the subtle volume and planes of the faces, that cannot be disregarded.
Part of the controversy over attribution arises from the differences in the painting techniques used to delineated the sitters' faces and their costumes. The edges of their costumes are neatly outlined in darker tones, modeling and shading being used sparingly to achieve depth. The anatomical drawing of the hands is adequate at best, and in no way approaches the subtle, correctly rendered structure achieved in the faces. Unlike the costumes, the faces are powerful in both form and coloration and were painted swiftly with assurance and facility. The costumes and hands may very well represent another artist's efforts or they may simply indicate restraint or disinterest on the part of someone more concerned with realistic faces than with the intricacies of fabrics, a not uncommon attitude among America's early portraitists.
Very little is known about the sitters. Ruth was the daughter of Noah and Ruth Norton Stanley. They lived in Farmington, Connecticut, where Noah kept a local tavern. John was the son of Jonathan and Mary Peck Mix, also of Connecticut. The sitters' marriage date is unknown, but they rpobably moved to New Britain soon thereafter. John served on the town's committee to plan a new school in 1793, and by 1796 he was grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Connecticut.
InscribedAn inscription on John Mix's handbook is now almost totally lost; the only discernable part is the date, "1778."
ProvenanceFound in Connecticut by Ginsberg and Levy,Inc and puchased from Edith Gregor Halpert by Mrs. Rockefeller. Given to C. W. by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.