John Finley
According to the donor, the subject of this portrait was a counselor at law in Baltimore. A review of the Finley genealogy, however, suggests that he may have been the John McKnight Finley (1787–1850) who was a son of Ebenezer Finley, a prominent merchant of Baltimore. That John Finley was born in York County, Pennsylvania, and married Mary Van Lear. After serving in the War of 1812, he was a colonel in the Baltimore militia and a merchant in Baltimore. There is no record of his having been a lawyer. He died in New Orleans. A register kept by Sully records that John Finley was painted in 1821. This portrait, in the close-up format fashionable at the time, was given as a gift along with 94.23.1 and 94.23.3 to Henry Robinson of Baltimore. When it first came to the Museum, the picture was misattributed to Rembrandt Peale.
Artwork Details
- Title:John Finley
- Artist:Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Date:1821
- Culture:American
- Medium:Oil on canvas
- Dimensions:17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm)
- Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. Rosa C. Stanfield, in memory of her father, Henry Robinson, 1894
- Object Number:94.23.2
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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Hints to Young Painters, and the Process of Portrait-Painting as Practiced by the Late Thomas Sully.
Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1873
Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
ca. 1843
Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
ca. 1802
Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1810–20
Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1810–20
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