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Portrait of a New York Gentleman
ca. 1840
- Medium
- oil on canvas mounted on aluminum
- Classification
- Paintings
- Dimensions
- overall: 6 3/4 x 5 5/8 in. (17.2 x 14.4 cm)
- Culture
- New York
- Museum
- Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
- Rights
- CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Smithsonian Institution
About this work
George Linen used the European portrait convention of an open window and a curtain drawn back behind his sitter in many of his paintings. Here, he posed his sitter before a window opening onto trees and a moody sky. The gentleman’s upright posture, wide eyes, and high brow convey a gentle and thoughtful personality. Small portraits like this, called cabinet paintings, were popular before photography.
