Charles Wheeler
- Date
- c.1845
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Troy, Missouri, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 337
- Dimensions
- 35 x 31 in. (88.9 x 78.7 cm)
framed: 42 x 38 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. (106.7 x 96.8 x 6.4 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr.
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 191:1951
NOTES
Charles Wheeler is shown in his library filled with law books. Born in Hancock, New Hampshire, Wheeler graduated from Dartmouth College and moved west to Troy, Missouri, to practice law. He was active in the Whig Party, and was elected to the 1845 Missouri state constitutional convention. Both Wheeler's professional and personal identities are conveyed in this portrait. Likely the Connecticut River and White Mountains of New Hampshire are depicted outside his window, and the envelope on his desk bears the date, August 11, 1835, the day Wheeler was married.
Wheeler is just the kind of self-made, rising, middle-class businessman who sought out local or traveling artists for a portrait. This task was likely easier for Wheeler than most, as his portrait and a companion one of his wife, were painted by his sister-in-law.
Wheeler is just the kind of self-made, rising, middle-class businessman who sought out local or traveling artists for a portrait. This task was likely easier for Wheeler than most, as his portrait and a companion one of his wife, were painted by his sister-in-law.
Provenance
- 1951
Charles Wheeler (1795–1873), Permelia Redmon Wheeler (1817–1881), Troy, MO; Luclema Wheeler Carter (1847–1929), by inheritance; Earnest E. Carter (1884–1962) and Katherine H. Carter (1887–1963), Columbia, MO, by inheritance [1]
1951 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Earnest E. and Katherine H. Carter, through Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr. [2]
Notes:
[1] Permelia and Charles Wheeler were the sister and brother-in-law of the artist. Three portraits in the Museum's collection (190–192:1951), depicting the artist herself and Charles and Permelia Wheeler, share the same provenance. The paintings remained in the family's estate in Troy, MO until the house was sold around 1948. Earnest E. Carter (grandson of Charles and Permelia) and Katherine H. Carter (his wife) of Columbia, MO received the paintings by inheritance from his mother Luclema Wheeler Carter [letter from Katherine H. Carter to Perry T. Rathbone, Museum director, dated January 1952, SLAM document files].
[2] Letter from Perry T. Rathbone to Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr., dated October 2, 1951, [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 5, 1951.
Charles Wheeler (1795–1873), Permelia Redmon Wheeler (1817–1881), Troy, MO; Luclema Wheeler Carter (1847–1929), by inheritance; Earnest E. Carter (1884–1962) and Katherine H. Carter (1887–1963), Columbia, MO, by inheritance [1]
1951 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Earnest E. and Katherine H. Carter, through Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr. [2]
Notes:
[1] Permelia and Charles Wheeler were the sister and brother-in-law of the artist. Three portraits in the Museum's collection (190–192:1951), depicting the artist herself and Charles and Permelia Wheeler, share the same provenance. The paintings remained in the family's estate in Troy, MO until the house was sold around 1948. Earnest E. Carter (grandson of Charles and Permelia) and Katherine H. Carter (his wife) of Columbia, MO received the paintings by inheritance from his mother Luclema Wheeler Carter [letter from Katherine H. Carter to Perry T. Rathbone, Museum director, dated January 1952, SLAM document files].
[2] Letter from Perry T. Rathbone to Sydney M. Shoenberg Sr., dated October 2, 1951, [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 5, 1951.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.