Mr. Harvey C. North
Artist:
Hiram Powers
(American, 1805 - 1873)
Place made:United States, North and Central America
Date: 1850-1851
Medium: Marble
Dimensions:
h. 26 in. (66 cm); w. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm); d. 10 in. (25.4 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Athalie Louise Moore and William North Jayme
Object number: 80.24
Inscribed: Inscribed on column reverse: H. Powers.Sculp
Label Text
New Orleanians—and eventual Austinites—Harvey and Catherine North received the classicizing treatment from sculptor Hiram Powers when they visited the artist in Florence. Powers gave his modern sitters the aura of antiquity by representing them as if they were ancient Romans sitting for portrait busts. The works’ combinations of very contemporary hairstyles (and clothing, in the case of Mrs. North) with the impassive grandeur and white marble of the Antique may seem jarring to today’s viewers, but represented the ultimate in fashion to sophisticated patrons of the day.
Hiram Powers settled in Florence in 1837 and became the leader of an international community of expatriate artists who found inspiration in the Classical past.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)
Hiram Powers settled in Florence in 1837 and became the leader of an international community of expatriate artists who found inspiration in the Classical past.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)
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The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
