Matthew Harris Jouett (

Mercer County, Kentucky Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,772. Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county was formed from Lincoln County, Virginia in 1785 and is named for Revolutionar ...

, 22 April 1788 –

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, 10 August 1827) was a noted

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

portrait painter, famous for painting portraits including

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...

and

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

Personal life and career

Jouett was the son of Sallie Robards and

Jack Jouett John Jouett Jr. (December 7, 1754 – March 1, 1822) was an American farmer and politician in Virginia and Kentucky best known for his ride during the American Revolution. Sometimes called the "Paul Revere of Southern United States, the South", ...

, a hero of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The elder Jouett sent his son to

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

and encouraged him to study law, but Matthew spent much of his time painting. The frustrated father commented "I sent Matthew to college to make a gentleman of him, and he has turned out to be nothing but a damned sign painter." Thomas Jefferson by Matthew Harris Jouett

Thomas Jefferson by Matthew Harris Jouett

Jouett served as a volunteer officer of the 28th Kentucky Infantry in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and was among the survivors of the

River Raisin Massacre The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

. The company payroll of $6000 disappeared during the slaughter. Jouett restored the missing funds to the militia, based on his earnings as a painter. He also painted portraits of his fellow soldiers from memory, including Hart and Colonel Allen. Catherine Cornelia Prather

Matthew Harris Jouett married Margaret "Peggy" Henderson Allen of Lexington, Kentucky on May 25, 1812. They had nine children. One of their sons was

James Edward Jouett Rear Admiral James Edward Jouett (7 February 1826 – 30 September 1902), known as "Fighting Jim Jouett of the American Navy", was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. His father was M ...

, a naval officer. James served with Admiral

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. Fa ...

and was immortalized in Farragut's famous quote "Damn the torpedoes! Four bells! Captain Drayton go ahead! Jouett full speed!" Jouett was promoted to captain during the War of 1812. Afterwards, he studied portraiture and went to Boston to study with

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

in 1816. He painted in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

from 1817 to 1827 during the winter season and was listed in the 1824 New Orleans Directory as a portrait painter working at 49 Canal Street. He was commissioned by the Kentucky legislature to paint a portrait of the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

. Jouett also painted

and the child Catherine Cornelia Prather. It wasn't until the 1893 Chicago World Fair, that his fame as a painter began. His paintings were greatly appreciated by the curators and the general public. His work is more collectible today than it was during his lifetime, and as such catches higher prices. Jouett became one of the most highly esteemed portrait painters in the United States, honored with a major centenary exhibition at the

Speed Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

in his home state. Matthew Jouett died in

in 1827 is buried in

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buria ...

Selected works

File:Henry Clay.JPG, ''Henry Clay'', 1818,

File:Portrait of Sarah Low Norton by Matthew Harris Jouett.jpg, ''Portrait of Sarah Low Norton'', c. 1820–1825,

Speed Art Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

File:Matthew Harris Jouett - James G. McKinney - 1916.903 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff, ''James G. McKinney'',

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

File:John Grimes MET ap95.23.jpg, ''John Grimes'', c. 1824,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Tobias Gibson.jpg, ''Tobias Gibson'', c. 1825–1827,

Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina that was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. This small city features a living history museum (operated by the non-profit Old Salem Museums & Gardens, organize ...

References

Sources

* * Floyd, William Barrow. ''Matthew Harris Jouett: Portraitist of the Ante-Bellum South''. 1980. Transylvania Printing Company, Lexington, KY. * Mills, Sally.
Jouett, Matthew Harris.
In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, (accessed January 4, 2012; subscription required). * * * *

External links

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

Entry for Matthew Harris Jouett
on the

Union List of Artist Names The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) is a free online database of the Getty Research Institute using a controlled vocabulary, which by 2018 contained over 300,000 artists and over 720,000 names for them, as well as other information about artist ...

Matthew Harris Jouett
on Artcyclopedia (with links to works in various museum collections)
Jack Jouett House Historic Site, Versailles, KY

Entry for Matthew Jouett in the archive of the Collins Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jouett, Matthew Harris 1788 births 1827 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters Painters from Kentucky People from Mercer County, Kentucky Transylvania University alumni Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery United States Army officers American militiamen in the War of 1812 Jouett family