Description:Jackson facing to the viewer's right, wearing a cloak with a white collar and cravat.
History:This commanding portrait of Andrew Jackson was executed by an unknown artist after the exceedingly popular, and widely disseminated, likeness created by artist Joseph Wood (1778-1830). Jackson, who was not yet elected to the presidency, sat for the portrait in 1824, while serving in the United States Senate, where he had been concentrated on the tariff bill of 1824. Although Wood's cabinet-sized portrait of Jackson remains unlocated, several engravings of the portrait were produced/ The 1824 stipple engraving by James Barton Longacre is considered to be the earliest and best example, as it was "engraved by J. B. Longacre from an original miniature by J. Wood."1 Longacre's version shows Jackson facing to the right, wearing a cloak with a white collar and cravat, as does the unknown artist's example under discussion. In 1829, Longacre displayed his print in the annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; this may have served as inspiration to the as yet unknown artist, as this portrait has a history in that city.
Notes: Provenance: Dr. Joseph F. or T. Wilson (1824-1880) of Philadelphia and his second wife, Eleanor Patterson (1826-1856), to their son James Templeton Patterson Wilson (1856-1934) and his wife, Ann Lydia Livingstone (1858- ), to their daughter Mary Eleanor Wilson (1887-1957) and her husband. Alva Martin Careless (1888-1967), of Transfer Town, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, to their daughter, Ruth Esther Careless (1919-1995) and her husband, Casimer Claudius Legal (1915- ), to their son, who sold it to Dr. David Nelson, Tuskaloosa, Alabama; to Sumpter Priddy III, Inc. to current restricted private owner (2012) Additional Notes: 1 James G. Barber. Andrew Jackson: A portrait study. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1991, pages 82-83; Longacre's engraving is depicted in figure 44. 2 Ibid, page 84. An oil on panel portrait attributed to an obscure New York artist, Franklin Witcher, after Joseph Wood, circa 1828, in the collection of the Hermitage, is illustrated on page 85, figure 48. Witcher's example is believed to have been made for display at a political rally or dinner during Jackson's 1828 presidential campaign.
