Edward Dalton Marchant (1806-1887), also known as Edward D. Marchant and E. D. Marchant, was an American artist. He was born in

Edgartown, Massachusetts Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. To ...

in 1806. Largely self-taught, Marchant began his career as a house painter, establishing a portrait studio in Edgartown by the mid-1820s. Marchant is known to have studied briefly with artist Gilbert Stuart in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1825, familiarizing himself with the artist's style. Marchant began an early, peripatetic career by late 1826 advertising his services in a Charleston, South Carolina newspaper, but returned to Edgartown in 1828-1829. He would soon after relocate 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 ...

, painting some of the city's prominent citizens. Marchant was active in

New York City 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 ...

after 1832, completing many portraits of well-to-do merchants and political leaders during the 1830s and 1840s; in addition, he completed commissions in several

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

cities as well as in Nashville and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, before settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in 1854 where he would remain for another thirty years.Johns, Elizabeth; Martinez, Katharine
Philadelphia's Cultural Landscape: The Sartain Family Legacy
Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2000, pp. 63-68. Accessed December 28, 2015.Holzer, Harold; Medford, Edna Greene; Williams, Frank J
The Emancipation Proclamation: Three Views (Social, Political, Iconographic)
LSU Press, 2006, pp. 96-97. Accessed December 29, 2015. Although mostly known for his portraits in oil, Marchant also created miniatures. He was elected to a number of arts academies and exhibited regularly during his lifetime. An ardent opponent of slavery who advocated for the return of slaves to Africa, Marchant was commissioned by the Union League of Philadelphia in December 1862 to paint a portrait of

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 ...

to be displayed in

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...

. Marchant worked in the White House for several months in early 1863, having daily contact with the President, and ultimately depicted him seated at a table having just signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Marchant said that his painting "triumphantly gives lie to those hideous caricatures of Mr. Lincoln" which were at the time widely circulated in the hostile press. Authorized reproductions of Marchant's somewhat idealized portrait were widely circulated prior to the 1864 presidential election, and printed at a rate of 1,000 per day. Another 1864 Marchant portrait of Lincoln is featured today in the Lincoln Room of the President's Guest House (known as Blair House) in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where it may be viewed by visiting dignitaries. Marchant died in Asbury Park, New Jersey on August 15, 1887.

Gallery

File:Samuel Beals Thomas and family.jpg, ''Samuel Beals Thomas, with His Wife, Sarah Kellogg Thomas, and Their Two Daughters, Abigail and Pauline'', 1830.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a museum of American art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum, founded by Alice Walton and designed by Moshe Safdie, officially opened on 11 November 2011. It offers free public admission. Overview ...

File:Elisha Reynolds Potter, Jr. (Rhode Island Judge and Congressman).jpg, Elisha Reynolds Potter, Jr., 1844.

Rhode Island Historical Society The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island. Its offices are located in Providence, Rhode Island. History Found ...

File:James Tooley, Jr. - Portrait of Andrew Jackson (1840) - Google Art Project.jpg, James Tooley, Jr., ''Portrait of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

'', 1840, copy of a painting made that same year by Marchant. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, Edward Dalton 19th-century American painters American male painters 1806 births 1887 deaths American portrait painters People from Edgartown, Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts People from Worcester, Massachusetts 19th-century American male artists