Samuel Bell Waugh - Self-Portrait-62-1041

Samuel Bell Waugh (1814 in

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

– 1885, in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...

) was a 19th-century American portrait, landscape, and moving panorama painter. His portrait subjects included Presidents

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

Biography

He was born in 1814 in

, then part of the

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, and its largest city is Hermitage. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. Merce ...

. According to some reports, his father, James Waugh, was a pioneer-settler in New Wilmington where he ran the first general store. Little is known about Samuel's early life and education. It was suggested that he worked in a paint shop in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and also took painting lessons from J. R. Smith, who advertised himself as the "Scenic Artist of the Pittsburgh Theater". He joined his brother John in Toronto in 1833. In 1834, he displayed his paintings at the exhibition of the Society of Artists and Amateurs of Toronto where they were judged "among the very best portraits."Samuel Bell Waugh, 1814-1885
''National Academy Museum, New York'' In Toronto, he became a friend of already established American painter also hailing from Mercer County, James Bowman. They both started to plan a trip to Rome, Italy, but Bowman changed his mind and instead decided to settle in Detroit, and Waugh remained in Canada relocating to Montreal. He went to Italy in late 1836 or early 1837 staying in Rome and Naples until 1841 or 1842. His portrait of the Danish sculptor

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

(1838) buttressed his reputation as an accomplished artist and eased his transition to Philadelphia where he established himself as a leading portrait and landscape painter. Sculptor Thomas Crawford and painter James Edward Freeman might have aided him in this process. In 1849, Waugh debuted in Philadelphia his first Italian moving panorama, ''Mirror of Italy, or Grand Tour through Italy'', which was based on his Italian sketches; it became a success and toured different American cities for six years. His second panorama, ''Italia'', depicting a voyage from Boston to Italy, opened in 1854. On 28 September 1885, Waugh died while visiting his sister in

. In a eulogy, the National Academy characterized Waugh as one of its "earlier and highly respected members."

Family

His daughter from first marriage to Sarah Lendenhall,

Ida Waugh Ida Waugh (October 24, 1846 – January 25, 1919) was an American illustrator of children's literature who often collaborated with her lifelong companion, Amy Ella Blanchard. Personal life Ida Waugh was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on O ...

(1846-1919), was an award-winning figure painter, and her portrait of Dr. Paul J. Sartain received the 1896 Norman W. Dodge prize at the National Academy; she also illustrated children's books written by her step-brother's tutor

Amy Ella Blanchard Amy Ella Blanchard (June 28, 1854 – July 4, 1926) was a prolific American writer of children's literature. Early life Amy Ella Blanchard was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1854, the daughter of Daniel Harris Blanchard and Sarah Reynolds. She ...

. His second wife, Mary Eliza Young Waugh, was a miniature painter. Their son

Frederick Judd Waugh Frederick Judd Waugh (September 13, 1861 in Bordentown, New Jersey – September 10, 1940) was an American artist, primarily known as a marine artist. During World War I, he designed ship camouflage for the U.S. Navy, under the direction of Ever ...

(1861–1940), born in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.Frederick Coulton Waugh, was also an artist, known for his work on the comic strip ''

Dickie Dare ''Dickie Dare'' was a comic strip syndicated by AP Newsfeatures. Launched July 31, 1933, it was the first comic strip created by Milton Caniff before he began ''Terry and the Pirates''. The strip ended on October 12, 1957. Publication history ...

''. His nephew, Henry W. Waugh (1835-1865), was an actor and scene and landscape painter. The Waughs owned a house in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

where they spent many summers.

Recognition

Waugh was one of the leading portrait painters in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

during his lifetime and was known nationally for his Italian moving panoramas. Waugh exhibited frequently at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...

Peter H. Falk and Anna Wells Rutledge, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. ''The Annual Exhibition Record of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: 1807-1870'', Sound View Press, 1955, p. 244. and the Artists' Fund Society of Philadelphia, the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in New York, and the Boston Aethenaeum. His traveling panoramas, ''Mirror of Italy, or Grand Tour through Italy'' and ''Italia'', were well received by American public. In 1847, he became an honorary member of the National Academy of Design and Toronto Society of Arts.

Gallery

File:Samuel Bell Waugh - Miss Jane Mercer - Google Art Project.jpg, Portrait of Miss Jane Mercer File:Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Samuel Bell Waugh.jpg, Portrait of Abraham Lincoln File:Portrait of Joseph R. Ingersoll by Samuel Bell Waugh.jpg, Portrait of

Joseph Reed Ingersoll Joseph Reed Ingersoll (June 14, 1786 – February 20, 1868) was an American lawyer and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1835 he followed his father, Jared Ingersoll, and his older brother, Charles Jared Ingersoll, to represent Penns ...

File:Portrait of Ulysses S. Grant by Samuel Bell Waugh.jpg, Portrait of

File:Portrait of Mrs. Henry D. Gilpin by Samuel Bell Waugh.jpg, Portrait of Mrs. Henry D. Gilpin File:Portrait of Lizzie Markley Hartman by Samuel Bell Waugh.jpg, Portrait of Lizzie Markley Hartman File:Sketch of the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen by Samuel Bell Waugh, 1838.jpg, Portrait of

References

External links

Samuel Bell Waugh, 1814-1885
''National Academy Museum, New York''
View the artist: Samuel Bell Waugh

American Gallery: Samuel Bell Waugh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waugh, Samuel 1814 births 1885 deaths People from Mercer, Pennsylvania 19th-century American painters Painters from Pennsylvania American male painters 19th-century American male artists