George Clarke
- Date
- 1829
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
- depicts
- New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- American Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 43 1/8 x 34 3/4 in. (109.5 x 88.3 cm)
framed: 51 x 42 3/8 in. (129.5 x 107.6 cm) - Credit Line
- Friends Endowment Fund and funds given by Mrs. Mark C. Steinberg by exchange
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 17:1975
NOTES
George Clarke (1768–1835) turns to acknowledge us. The papers and books strewn across his desk and the country villa, Hyde Hall, viewed through the window symbolize his education, ambition, and wealth. He had immigrated from England to upstate New York to oversee the 120,000 acres of land that his great-grandfather, a colonial administrator, had negotiated from members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Clarke’s portrait demonstrates the endurance of generational wealth accrued by those who benefitted from the systems of colonialism and imperialism. In 1824 Clarke inherited a sugar plantation in Jamaica. The income generated from the stolen labor of 274 enslaved Jamaicans enabled him to enlarge the original plans for Hyde Hall, considered the finest example of an American Neoclassical country mansion.
Samuel F. B. Morse began his artistic career by studying in London with Benjamin West. He is better recognized today as the inventor of the telegraph.
Clarke’s portrait demonstrates the endurance of generational wealth accrued by those who benefitted from the systems of colonialism and imperialism. In 1824 Clarke inherited a sugar plantation in Jamaica. The income generated from the stolen labor of 274 enslaved Jamaicans enabled him to enlarge the original plans for Hyde Hall, considered the finest example of an American Neoclassical country mansion.
Samuel F. B. Morse began his artistic career by studying in London with Benjamin West. He is better recognized today as the inventor of the telegraph.
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