The Grave of William Penn

Provenance

Richard Price, Philadelphia, or Joshua Longstreth, Price's father-in-law.[1] Sold by Miss Marian Beans, a descendant, to (Robert Carlen, Philadelphia);[2] sold 1944 to (Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York); sold 1944 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1944 to Joseph Katz, New York; sold 1947 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Pokety Farms, Cambridge, Maryland; bequest 1980 to NGA. [1] Eleanor Price Mather, letter of 14 January 1982, in NGA curatorial files, states that this is the only _Grave of William Penn_ without an inscription on the reverse naming the original owner. A 10 January 1949 letter from Philadelphia art dealer Robert Carlen to Colonel Garbisch (in NGA curatorial files) refers to Richard Price as "a member of the family for whom he [Hicks] painted the Picture `Wm. Penn's Grave at Jordan's Metting in England' which is now in your collection." From this Mather feels that the original owner may have been Price or his father-in-law, Joshua Longstreth, since Hicks instructs Price to mention to his "father in law as he has a taste for farming & Cattle that there is a flock of sheep & cattle on the peace I allude to..." (Hick's undated letter to Price, owned by the Friends Historical Society of Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, as transcribed by Carlen for Garbisch in the 10 January 1949 letter; in NGA curatorial files). [2] According to Carlen, in a letter of 3 July 1970 to Colonel Garbisch, in NGA curatorial files.

The Grave of William Penn

Hicks, Edward

c. 1847/1848

Accession Number

1980.62.12

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 60.4 x 75.5 cm (23 3/4 x 29 3/4 in.) | framed: 81.4 x 96.5 cm (32 1/16 x 38 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch