Beschreibung:

Ira Chaffee Goodell American, 1800-1875 Portrait of Master Angelo Newton Franklin Goodell, 1849 American, 1800-1875 Portrait of Master Angelo Newton Franklin Goodell, 1849 Inscribed Extract from the Declaration/of Independence in Phonography/Written at the Apollo Rooms in/N. York, Thursday Evening May/1849. By/A.N.F. Goodell./Aged 6 years and 8 months. (ul), inscribed "Now I suppose my name will/appear in the papers tomorrow."/Yes, Master Angelo Newton/Franklin Goodell, it shall."/I.C. Leland., signed Painted by I. C. Goodell. and dated June 1849. (ll); inscribed ...Angelo Newton Franklin Goodell/Painted by L.C. Goodell/June 1849/53...St./N. York on the reverse Oil on canvas 43 1/2 x 33 inches Exhibited: Kinderhook, NY, Columbia County Historical Society, Painted by Ira C. Goodell, 1979 Literature: Ruth Piwonka, Painted by Ira C. Goodell, Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook, NY, 1979, exhi. cat., no. 44 Trained as a lawyer, Ira Chafee Goodell also studied painting, and pursued both activities professionally for several years, working in various communities in Massachusetts and New York State in the Albany/Hudson region. In 1834 he moved to New York City, where he spent the remainder of his life painting portraits, and as late as 1874, still charging the same fee of $10 per portrait that he had charged forty years prior. Suzanne and Michael Payne, authors of an upcoming article about the artist, write, "Ira Goodell was always very interested in the latest intellectual fad. His letters describe his fascination with mesmerism, galvanic batteries that were said to treat every disease... spiritualism, phrenology, etc. In 1849, Ira and his young son Angelo,. started practicing the new 'phonography,' an early type of shorthand. In May, 1849, they attended a meeting of the New York State Phonological Association where Angelo, at six years of age, got up and wrote the Declaration of Independence on the blackboard, from memory." After the event was reported in several newspapers, Goodell commemorated the event in two very similar portraits of his son, one of which is the present work. A precocious six year old Angelo Goodell wrote to his cousin, Harriet on June 12, 1849, describing the event, "I am fitting my self for a reporter as fast as I can conveniently. I have been to 3 or 4 Phonographic Exhibitions of the New York City Phonographic Society Mr. T.F. Leland President. I went onto the stage and showed the audience how a little boy of 6 years of age could write Phonography on the black board. The Spectators patted their hands stamped their feet and made a terrible noise when I wrote the Declaration of Independence, -- from memory as fast as most people read it. Did you not see an account of it in the papers as several of the new york papers told a notice of the performance. and saing [sic] that I did first rate for a little person.'' This lot will be accompanied by a letter from Suzanne and Michael Payne, to whom we extend our thanks for their generosity in sharing archival materials for the purposes of this catalogue. C
Relined, with a clear plastic to see the original back of the canvas. There is scattered craquelure throughout. There is a 5 inch repaired tear in the lower right quadrant. Scattered inpaint throughout the background and a couple touches in the face and pants. No further restoration under UV light.