Ezra Ames (May 5, 1768 – February 23, 1836) was a popular
portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
painter in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. More than 700 portraits have been attributed to him.
Life and career
He was born in
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...
, in 1768. He moved to
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, in 1790, and married Zipporah Wood in 1794. Some time later he moved to
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, where he painted a number of prominent people, including early portraits of Governor
George Clinton and
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
.
It is not known whether Ames was formally trained or not, but his work had a popular appeal. In addition to portraits and landscapes, Ames' surviving accounts books indicated he painted miniatures, carriages, fire buckets, fences, mirror frames, and furniture.
Ames painted a number of
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s,
landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
s, and history paintings, and was skilled at engraving. The ''
Chautauqan Magazine'' describes his importance in this way; ''"(he) was the most noted portraitist in the state, outside New York city. The sure and fluent ease of his brush, his keen characterization, his pure, fresh coloring, are all remarkable for this early period. His portrait of Governor
George Clinton, exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1812, won him wide notice; but he did delightful work some years earlier, and many even finer canvases are scattered through the middle states, in private hands."''
During his career Ames painted many members of the New York State legislature and retired comfortably on his savings built up during his prolific career,
primarily between 1800 and 1820.
In fact he became known unofficially as the ''(official)'' New York State portrait painter.
Ames was an active freemason, which brought him a number of commissions from his fellows.
Ames served as chairman of the Fine Arts Committee of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts in 1805, and was also President of the
Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany The Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany was a state and national bank that became a subsidiary of the Bank of New York in 1969.
History
The Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank of Albany was formed on July 29, 1811, as the third bank incorporated in Alb ...
.
He died in 1836 and is buried at the
Albany Rural Cemetery
The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical Am ...
(Lot 1 Section 59). Ames was posthumously elected an honorary member of the
American Academy of Fine Arts in New York City.
Ames had three children, two of whom followed him into the business: Angelo Ames and Julius Rubens Ames (1801–1850).
Paintings by Ezra Ames
Image:Joseph Brant by Ezra Ames.jpg, Portrait of Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...
File:Ezra Ames - Simeon de Witt - Google Art Project.jpg, Portrait of Simeon De Witt
Simeon De Witt (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.
Life ...
Image:Gideon Granger.jpg, Portrait of Gideon Granger
Gideon Granger (July 19, 1767 – December 31, 1822) was an early American politician and lawyer. He was the father of fellow Postmaster General and U.S. Representative Francis Granger.
Early life
Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut on ...
Image:Solomon Townsend by Ezra Ames.JPG, Portrait of Solomon Townsend
Solomon Townsend (1746 – March 27, 1811) was a merchant ship's captain prior to the American Revolution, owned an ironworks in New York State, and was a representative to the New York State Legislature. Stranded in London following the outbrea ...
Image:Alexander Hamilton by Ezra Ames.jpg, Portrait of Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
Image:Benjamin Tallmadge by Ezra Ames.JPG, Benjamin Tallmadge
Benjamin Tallmadge (February 25, 1754 – March 7, 1835) was an American military officer, spymaster, and politician. He is best known for his service as an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He acted as leade ...
File:Francis Bloodgood 1768-1840.jpg, Francis Bloodgood 1768-1840
George Clinton by Ezra Ames (full portrait).jpg, George Clinton
References
*''Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896.'' Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.
Sources
Albany Institute of History and Art article
External links
Ezra Ames at American Art Gallery*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ames, Ezra
1768 births
1836 deaths
18th-century American painters
18th-century American male artists
American male painters
19th-century American painters
Artists from Albany, New York
Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery
People from Framingham, Massachusetts
Painters from Massachusetts
Painters from New York (state)
People of colonial Massachusetts
19th-century American male artists