''Marquis de Lafayette'' (or ''Portrait of La Fayette'') was painted in 1825 by

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...

. Mostly known for his invention of the

electric telegraph Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

, Morse was also an artist and a professor of painting and sculpture at the

University of the City of New York New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Painting

The painting is a loose and gestural bust-study rather than a finished work, a sketch for the 1826 full-length portrait of

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� ...

that had been commissioned by the

City of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to commemorate Lafayette's role in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The sketch focused on capturing a portrait of Lafayette during his brief visits to New York City from 1824–25. The majority of the painting was done in February 1825. Morse had great respect for Lafayette, remarking "My feelings were almost too powerful for me... This is the man... who spent his youth, his fortune, and his time, to bring about (under Providence) our happy Revolution; the friend and companion of eorgeWashington, terror of tyrants, the firm and consistent supporter of liberty, the man whose beloved name has rung from one end of the continent to the other, whom all flock to see, whom all delight to honor."

Provenance

Once his full-length portrait was completed, Morse, having no compelling need for this sketch, gave it to

Philip Hone Philip Hone (October 25, 1780 – May 5, 1851) was Mayor of New York City from 1826 to 1827.Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York, 1784-1831. Volume XV, November 10, 1825 to December 25, 1826'. New York: City of New York, 1917. p. ...

(often called "The Honorable Philip Hone" by contemporaries), the Mayor of New York City. Morse likely gave it to Hone because he was in charge of the commission. Upon Hone's death, an "Inventory of Paintings, Statuary, Medals, etc, the Property of the Late Philip Hone, to be sold at public auction" was taken, which included this painting. William H. Osborn, a railroad tycoon who was a patron of the arts and had a personal art collection, bought the painting at the April 28, 1852 auction. Osborn gave the painting to the wealthy

James Lenox James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library. Early ...

in 1876. Like the majority of his art collection, the painting was displayed in Lenox's newly built Lenox Library, and was listed in the 1879, 1885, and 1892 catalogues. The 1879 Lenox Library Guide to the Paintings and Sculptures states that the painting was "Presented by William H. Osborn, November, 1876." A few decades later the painting was donated to the New York Public Library, where it was displayed and periodically loaned out to other museums. It sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

as lot 1 on November 30, 2005. The Crystal Bridges Museum bought it for US$1,360,000 ().

Related works

The full-length portrait for which this work was a sketch is displayed in the City Hall Portrait Collection in New York City Hall.

Sources

{{Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette 1825 paintings American paintings 19th-century portraits Portraits of men Collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Cultural depictions of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette