Walter Gould (1829 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 ...

– 1893 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

) was an American painter; known for his Orientalist scenes. He also painted landscapes, portraits and

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

Biography

At an early age, he began studying with the panorama painter,

John Rowson Smith John Rowson Smith (1810 – 1864) was a panorama painter in the United States. His father was John Rubens Smith. Several publications about him and his work were published. He produced a successful three reel rendition of the Mississippi Riv ...

and the portrait painter,

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was a portrait painter in the United States. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence. His subjects included nationa ...

. At the age of fourteen, he exhibited his first portrait and, the following year, exhibited with 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 ...

. He later worked in Virginia as well, although most of those works were lost during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1849, he went to Europe and, after a brief stay in Paris, moved to Italy and settled in Florence. There, he met and befriended the sculptor,

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

and appears to have become a sort of uncle to his numerous children. In 1850, Powers entrusted him with the task of salvaging a statue of his that had been lost in a shipwreck: a task in which Gould was successful. In 1851, Powers encouraged him to travel to Turkey for a possible portrait commission and provided him with the means. The commission involved

Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...

, who had fled there as a refugee and was living in

Kütahya Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate) ...

. With a letter of introduction provided by the British Ambassador, Sir

Stratford Canning Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, (4 November 1786 – 14 August 1880) was a British diplomat who became best known as the longtime British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. A cousin of George Canning, he served as Envoy ...

, he was able to meet Kossuth and paint his portrait. Judging from his letters to Powers, they also became close friends. While there, he visited

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and created some of the Orientalist works for which he is best remembered, as well as portraits, including one of the Grand Vizier,

Mustafa Reşid Pasha Koca Mustafa Reşid Pasha (literally ''Mustafa Reşid Pasha the Great''; 13 March 1800 – 7 January 1858) was an Ottoman statesman and diplomat, known best as the chief architect behind the Ottoman government reforms known as Tanzimat. Born i ...

. A brief visit to America was disappointing in terms of sales, and he returned to Florence. He would continue to paint some Orientalist genre scenes, in addition to many portraits; holding a major exhibit in 1866 at 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 ...

which was not, however, well-received by the critics. In his later years, a visit from his old friend,

Moncure Conway Moncure Daniel Conway (March 17, 1832 – November 15, 1907) was an American abolitionist minister and radical writer. At various times Methodist, Unitarian, and a Freethinker, he descended from patriotic and patrician families of Virginia an ...

, found him with dimming eyesight from painting too many

portrait miniature A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...

s, and fond of talking about the past. He died of paralysis, while recovering from a stroke. A year after his death, his relatives made a gift of some of his works to the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

, but the great majority are in private collections. In many cases, their present locations are unknown.

Sources

Biographical notes
@ Schwarz Gallery

@

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, and ...

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=onraQlj_C7wC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=walter+gould+painter&source=bl&ots=AoZqi2BncH&sig=ACfU3U35fg3hlBpP7dCyuL6QvN8hMUzmHQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC5qu76aPpAhWJ4J4KHS9UDV04ChDoATAIegQICRAB#v=onepage&q=walter%20gould%20painter&f=false Biography] in ''American Orientalists'' by Gerald M. Ackerman @ Google Books

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Walter 1829 births 1893 deaths 19th-century American painters American portrait painters American orientalists American emigrants to Italy Artists from Philadelphia