John Trumbull | |
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| Born | (1756-06-06)June 6, 1756 Lebanon, Connecticut, British America |
| Died | November 10, 1843(1843-11-10) (aged 87) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Yale University,New Haven, Connecticut |
| Education | Harvard College |
| Known for | Painting |
| Notable work | Declaration of Independence (painted 1817–1819) |
| Signature | |
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John Trumbull (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) was an American painter and military officer best known for hishistorical paintings of theAmerican Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolution".[1] Trumbull'sDeclaration of Independence (1817), one of his four paintings that hang in theUnited States Capitol rotunda, is used on the reverse of the currentUnited States two-dollar bill.
Trumbull was born inLebanon inConnecticut Colony in 1756, toJonathan Trumbull and Faith (née Robinson) Trumbull. His father served asgovernor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784. Both sides of his family were descended from earlyPuritan settlers of Connecticut.
He had two older brothers,Joseph Trumbull, the first commissary general of theContinental Army in theRevolutionary War, andJonathan Trumbull Jr., who became the secondSpeaker of theHouse of Representatives.
Trumbull entered the 1771 junior class atHarvard College at age 15 and graduated in 1773. Due to a childhood accident, Trumbull lost the use of one eye, which may have influenced his detailed painting style.[2]
As a soldier in theAmerican Revolutionary War, Trumbull rendered a particular service atBoston by sketching plans of theBritish andAmerican lines andworks.[3] He witnessed theBattle of Bunker Hill. He was appointed secondaide-de-camp to General George Washington, and in June 1776, deputy adjutant general to GeneralHoratio Gates.[4] Trumbull resigned from the army in 1777; the cause was reported to be a dispute over the dating of his commission, which would have blocked him from further promotion.
In 1780, a financially struggling Trumbull decided to work as a professional artist and sailed toLondon, where he was introduced toBenjamin Franklin. Trumbull studied underBenjamin West. At West's suggestion, Trumbull painted small pictures of the American Revolutionary War andminiature portraits. He painted about 250 such portraits in his lifetime.[5] He also painted theportrait of Washington from memory during this time.[6]
On September 23, 1780, British agent MajorJohn André was captured byContinental Army troops inNorth America; he was hanged as a spy on October 2, 1780. After news reachedGreat Britain, outrage flared and Trumbull was arrested fortreason, since he was known to be an officer in the Continental Army and of similar rank to André.[4][7]
Trumbull was imprisoned for seven months atTothill Fields Bridewell in London.[8][9]
Ostracized from British society, Trumbull returned to the United States upon his release, on a voyage that lasted six months. Arriving in late January 1782, he found employment with his brother David as a commissary agent for thearmy stationed atNew Windsor, New York, during the winter of 1782 and 1783.[10][11]
In 1784, followingBritain's recognition of United States' sovereignty and independence, Trumbull returned to London to complete his apprenticeship with West. His first major work,The Deputation from the Senate Presenting to Cincinnatus the Command of the Roman Armies, was accepted and displayed by theRoyal Academy of Arts in that year. In this work, Trumbull paintedLucius Quinctius Cincinnatus in the likeness ofGeorge Washington. The painting's current location is unknown.[12] While working in his studio, Trumbull paintedBattle of Bunker Hill andDeath of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec; both works are now housed at theYale University Art Gallery inNew Haven, Connecticut.
In July 1786, Trumbull traveled to Paris, where he made portrait sketches of French officers, includingSurrender of Lord Cornwallis. With assistance fromThomas Jefferson, who was then serving in Paris as theAmerican minister to France, Trumbull began the early composition of theDeclaration of Independence.[13][14][4] Over the next five years, Trumbull painted small portraits of the 56 signers of theDeclaration of Independence, which he later used to piece together a larger painting. If a signer was deceased, Trumbull copied a previous portrait, as he did withArthur Middleton, whose head position stands out in the painting. While visiting with each signer or their family, Trumbull was always seeking funding and used the occasion to sell subscriptions to engravings that he produced from his paintings of theAmerican Revolution.[5]
While in Paris, Trumbull introduced Jefferson toItalian painterMaria Cosway, and they became lifelong intimate friends. Trumbull's painting of Jefferson, commissioned by Cosway, became widely known and was later engraved byAsher Brown Durand.
Trumbull'sDeclaration of Independence painting was purchased by theUnited States Congress, along with three of his otherRevolutionary-era portraits,Surrender of General Burgoyne,Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, andGeneral George Washington Resigning His Commission. Each of these portraits now hang inUnited States Capitol rotunda at theUnited States Capitol inWashington, D.C. Congress reportedly authorized only funds sufficient to purchase these four paintings.
Trumbull completed several other paintings related to the Revolution:
Trumbull's portraits also include full lengths ofGeneral Washington (1790) andGeorge Clinton (1791), now held inNew York City Hall.[4] New York City Hall also hangs Trumbull's portrait of MayorRichard Varick, who commissioned the 1790 portrait of Washington. New York also bought his full-length paintings ofAlexander Hamilton (1805, the source of the face on the$10 bill[15]) andJohn Jay. Trumbull was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791[16] and elected as a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1792.[17]
He painted portraits ofJohn Adams (1797), Jonathan Trumbull, andRufus King (1800);Timothy Dwight andStephen Van Rensselaer (both at Yale),Alexander Hamilton (one in theMetropolitan Museum of Art and one in theBoston Museum of Fine Arts, both taken fromCeracchi's bust), a self-portrait (1833), a full-length of Washington, held atCharleston, South Carolina; a full-length of Washington in uniform,General George Washington at Trenton, (1792, at Yale); and portraits of President andMrs. Washington (1794), in theNational Museum of American History.[4]
Trumbull himself was painted byGilbert Stuart and many others.
In 1794, Trumbull acted as secretary toJohn Jay in London during the negotiation of the treaty with Great Britain, which largely settled the boundary with Canada and began cotton export to the country. In 1796, he was appointed by the commissioners sent by the two countries as the fifth member of a commission charged with carrying out the seventh article of theJay Treaty,[4] which mediated claims by American and British merchants and the opposing government stemming from actions that occurred during the war. Shortly after the end of Trumbull's service on this commission, he traveled to Stuttgart to pick up the completed engraving of theBattle of Bunker's Hill. On the return trip, he passed through Paris and carried the first dispatch from theXYZ Affair out of France.[18]
Trumbull later encountered hard times during which he was failing to sell his paintings individually. In 1831, he sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits toYale University for anannuity of $1,000. After many years of trying to create income from his paintings, he had finally found a way to sustain himself from his art.[5] This is by far the largest single collection of his works. The collection was originally housed in aneoclassical art gallery designed by Trumbull on Yale'sOld Campus, along with portraits by other artists.[19]
Trumbull was appointed president of theAmerican Academy of the Fine Arts in New York City, serving from 1816 to 1836.[20] Emphasizing classical traditions, Trumbull did not get along with the students. At the same time, his painting skills declined. In 1825, many of the students withdrew, founding theNational Academy of Design.[21] Unable to accommodate to changing tastes, the American Academy later closed in 1839 after a second fire destroyed its collections.
Trumbull wrote his autobiography, which he published in 1841. He died in New York City at the age of 87 on November 10, 1843.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Trumbull, John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 324.A person of the name of Trumbull was taken up for high Treason on Sunday night and committed Irond to Prison.
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