Henry S. Mount on His Death Bed

1841

Not on view

The subject of this haunting death-bed record by William Sidney Mount is his older brother, Henry, who died of tuberculosis. In 1824, William was apprenticed to Henry, a successful sign and ornamental painter in New York, and later would earn critical and popular acclaim for his rural narrative paintings. In this profile sketch, Mount unflinchingly renders the changes in facial skin color brought on by livor mortis. He inscribed the drawing to Benjamin Franklin Thompson, a lawyer and author of “The History of Long Island,” who, in its pages memorialized the deceased as “mild and amiable…. The death of such a man…was generally and deeply regretted, both by his family and a large circle of acquaintances.”

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Henry S. Mount on His Death Bed
Artist: William Sidney Mount (American, Setauket, New York 1807–1868 Setauket, New York)
Date: 1841
Culture: American
Medium: Watercolor and iron gall ink on paper
Dimensions: 7 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (19.1 × 19.7 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020
Object Number: 2021.14.39
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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