The Original Collectors Series: Paris, KY

As an art historian, I’ve curated exhibitions, written extensively on painting in the South, and worked for museums like the National Portrait Gallery, the Archives of American Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. I grew up here in rural Kentucky in a very southern environment. There were lovely old portraits hanging all over, and I became intrigued by this idea that they were created by artists — itinerants — that went around and painted. Who were they? Where did they come from? Who did they paint? I’ve also always liked the fact that a portrait tells two stories: one of the artist and one of the sitter.

I’m currently working on a book about Matthew Harris Jouett, a Kentucky portrait artist from the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1860, he went to Boston to study with portraitist Gilbert Stuart and kept a diary of his experiences. It’s a rare document that records how an older master portrait artist taught a younger painter how to paint. There hasn’t been a complete catalog of Jouett’s works published, and this will include primary material on his life that’s never been seen before.

My goal has been to lift artists out of being curiosities and place them in a larger context, bringing attention to their work. After all, Vermeer and Van Gogh were both unknown painters. I think in our world it’s important to do all that we can to enhance the cultural history of our country; it has a spiritual value. There are a lot of people who are caught up with politics, anger and materialism, and it’s nice to do something sort of otherworldly.

Why Southern portraiture?

My love of Southern portraiture is twofold. It’s deeply reflective, but in addition, most people who experience the history of art in our country experience it as a Northeast, or maybe a Western phenomenon. But there were many active portraitists up and down the Mississippi River, across the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans who were very compelling artists. I think bringing attention to their story is extremely important.

How has your professional focus impacted what you collect?

I sort of live in a time frame between 1840-1860. I like the portraiture of that era; I like American empire furniture; I like mid-Victorian style. Pieces in the sale from that period include the pier table, and the pair of portraits, “Mr. and Mrs. Collins,” which are unusual because they come from the northeast part of Kentucky. And I love Old Paris porcelain, like those cameo vases. It’s characteristic of that style to have the Old Paris flare vase format in a vivid color, and then the classical reference of the cameo profile.

There are also quite a few still lifes.

I like the Dutch style, and I spend a great deal of time in Amsterdam. I just love still life, it’s about a moment and the richness of natural form. I love that oval one of the peaches on a ledge, I used to call that “mystic peaches.” The still life by Mary C. Smith is also unusual for the period because it was done by a woman. She was in a girls school and probably did it from a pattern book. It’s really fun. I found with a dealer in Shelbyville.

What do you advise someone about buying a portrait?

To buy a portrait of someone they’d be happy to live with.