The Wages of War
Completed in 1848 and sold to the American Art-Union for the then-large amount of $1,500, "The Wages of War" was considered a masterpiece in its day. It was awarded as a prize in the Art-Union's lottery of December 21, 1849 to a John Doig of Lowville, New York. Gray later regained possession of the picture and took it to London for exhibition in the fall of 1851. After Gray went to Italy in 1871, his son managed a subscription for its sale and collected $5,000 from a group of patrons who presented the painting to the Museum in 1872. It was the first painting by an American artist acquired by the Museum. The composition contains borrowings from a wide variety of sources ranging from the antique to the Renaissance, and perhaps even including Samuel F. B. Morse's "The Dying Hercules" of 1813 (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven).
Artwork Details
- Title:The Wages of War
- Artist:Henry Peters Gray (American, New York 1819–1877 New York)
- Date:1848
- Culture:American
- Medium:Oil on canvas
- Dimensions:48 1/4 x 76 1/4 in. (122.6 x 193.7 cm)
- Credit Line:Gift of Several Ladies and Gentlemen, 1873
- Object Number:73.5
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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