Charles Loring Elliott
Launt Thompson American
Thompson’s mastery of naturalistic portraiture is evident in this posthumous bust of Charles Loring Elliott (1812-1868), a successful New York portrait and genre painter. Here facial features are portrayed with honesty—wrinkles, a crooked nose, and a mole on his forehead individualize Elliott’s likeness. Thompson and Elliott shared the distinction of being New York’s leading portraitists working in a realist vein, the former in marble and bronze, the latter in paint. Even if the painter did not sit for his portrait prior to his death in August 1868, the sculptor had access to visual aids such as photographs.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
