Portrait of a Whitehall, New York preacher by Vermont artist Horace Bundy (American, 1814-1883), oil on canvas, dated and signed on reverse of canvas 1854. Size: 30.5" x 25". This portrait most likely depicts an Adventist Preacher as is suggested by the stern expression and by the single item of jewelry, a gold cross. Bundy himself became a licensed Adventist preacher, a vocation which he practiced, together with his portrait painting, during his journeys across New England in the 1840s and 1850s, mainly in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Bundy frequently signed his paintings on the reverse, together with information on the subject, location and date. The reverse of this portrait is inscribed in a bold hand, "H. Bundy, painter, Whitehall (NY), 1854". Horace Bundy was born in Hardwick, VT and was largely self-taught as an artist. Like many portraitists of the time, he was an itinerant painter. He began his painting career in Lowell, MA, but soon relocated with his wife, Louisa Lockwood, to Springfield, Vermont. There are 109 paintings by Bundy recorded in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System. His works are in the permanent collections of many prestigious institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT; Smith College, Northampton, MA; Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; and the Newark Museum, Newark, NJ. (Biographical information obtained from AskArt archives). Condition: The painting has been professionally cleaned, and has had some minor restoration, but has not been relined. Offered in the original antique gilt wood frame.

Art (paintings, prints, frames)
Figures & Portraits