Thomas Jefferson, Goethe, & Weltschmerz

Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart

At the moment I am reading "Thomas Jefferson", a bio of Jefferson by Fawn Brodie. I don't have to remind you that Jefferson became President of the United States in 1801. Now, one of the main reasons I, as opposed to other family members, was interested in the Samuel Meeker portrait was because he was a peer of Goethe. As was Jefferson.

Here is a tale of a lovesick Jefferson taken from Brodie's biography: "In April [1764] he barely missed seeing the new Mrs. Ambler [a passion of Jefferson, she married another fellow] at a party at the home of Frances Burwell..., to which he had been invited. "What I high figure I should have cut had I gone!" he wrote to Page. "When I heard who visited you there I thought I had met with the narrowest escape in the world. I wonder how I should have behaved? I am sure I should have been at a great loss." The deprivation for Jefferson in losing Rebecca Burwell was more anguishing than has been acknowledged by some of his biographers. Malone holds that 'Jefferson carried on this rather absurd affair mostly in his imagination.' Nathan Schachner believes 'his passion could not have been too unmanageable, for he made no move to journey down to see her,' and labels his melancholy 'sentimental Weltschmerz.' "

Sentimental Weltschmerz can be roughly translated into an emotional 'ennuie and sadness with the world'~ This feeling and expression of emotion, by men, was increasingly common in the mid 1700s to the early 1800s, culminating in the novel "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" (The Sorrows of Young Werther) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1775, when he was 25. In this fiction told in letter-form, Goethe capitalized on the fad of men expressing suffering, emotion, ennuie [this was the time of Sturm und Drang]~ and with the publication of this story of male suffering, Goethe enjoyed huge success as his book became the main topic of the salons, and he became a worldwide celebrity.

"Die Leiden des jungen Werther" gelten den meisten nur als gefühlvoller Liebesroman, und das Werk ist in der Tat einer der schoensten and leidenschaftlichsten Liebesromane der Weltliteratur.

Jefferson was devastated at the death of his wife Martha, he never married again, but his long term relationship with Sally Hemmings raised eyebrows, for she was a slave. Goethe would have approved, or lets say, he would not have disapproved. He knew very well what it was like to transgress social norms.

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The transcript of Samuel Meeker's letter to Gen James Winchester; Philadelphia 1804

Philadelphia 27 December 1804
Cragfont, Tennessee
Gen James Winchester

Sir,

Enclosed I send you a list of the article of slaves & heading with their value here
I would think they would sell well in Orleans.
They leave for Domingo in stowing depots and to file up where other freight cannot be had and answer to export to most of the ports in Europe as well as the West Indies. If you can deliver them at Orleans at 1/3d less than they are worth here I should consider this always safe. Cotton continues about the same as stated in my former advice

Your obed[ient] Serv[ant]
Samuel Meeker

[Letter pictured at bottom, I have transcribed it here to the best of my ability! Corrections accepted. "List of slaves" is no longer existent.]

NO typewriter, no house address, no envelope, with a Philadelphia hand stamp, the letter is addressed only to “General James Winchester, Cragfont, Tennessee”. While daily mail delivery to the home is taken for granted today, it was a different matter in the early 1800s. During the 1700s and 1800s postal carriers traveled long distances on rough roads to scattered post offices, from Philadelphia a letter took 32 days to reach Kentucky and 44 days to reach Tennessee. Mail runs would normally be made once a week and follow a route of selected towns that were established by bids; Cragfont was not a town but simply the name of Winchester’s house. It can be assumed that everyone in the nearby region knew of James Winchester and his brother George.... “Both moved to the Tennessee country by 1785 and immediately became active in frontier government and military service. George was ambushed and killed by Chickasaw Indians in 1794, but James prospered. He added to his land holdings, built mills, and established trade in tobacco and other products with merchants in New Orleans and several eastern cities. In 1802 he built a spacious home, "Cragfont," which was described by a contemporary as "the most elegant house west of the Appalachians." American National Biography Online http://www.anb.org/

The land of Chickasaw Bluffs in Tn was bought by Andrew Jackson, John Overton and James Winchester and a land company was formed. Thereby was Winchester a co-founder of the City of Memphis.

"Cragfont," described as "the most elegant house west of the Appalachians."
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The question arises, just how deeply was Meeker involved in the slave trade, or was this just one transaction among many, involving a variety of products including cotton, tobacco, lumber, etc smoothed by trade information/funds provided by Meeker to Winchester in this instance?

I will be taking a look at Samuel Meeker’s career.....what provided his start in the world of finance in Philadelphia at this time?

Click on the letter for an incredible, close-up view of this historic document postulating "how well they will sell." How do I feel, that my ancestor should write such words? Sad. It is troubling. But I believe that he was not involved in the trade. The letter is important in that it shows the depth of the rot, how even the most respectable of citizens spoke of these men and women as if they were chattel...

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For those of you who are interested in German, note the form of the double 's' in the word 'less' ["If you can deliver them at Orleans at 1/3d less than they are worth" & in "Tennessee"]. This form of double 's', called Eszett or ß, is still used in the German language, and it is very interesting to see it being used here in English. (ß ...gesprochen Eszett oder scharfes S)

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Im Wald mit Schlapphut, und "Gardenarbeit!"

With a friend, in the forest, about 20 min away from where I live. Lots of forests in the mountains behind Santa Cruz.

Me, mit Schlapphut.

I wear the Schlapphut when I garden. This is my backyard, that is Lily over there in the back, see her reading? Thats my German bike in the foreground, and some odd box.

Thats me with Schlapput gardening at a friend's. We put in a lemon tree, a lime tree, and an avocado. That was only about 2 weeks ago.

My front yard.

A photo from the side. Two different kinds of grapes and kiwis grow on this trellis.

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As you can see, I enjoy wearing my Schlapphut. And just like my ancestor Meeker, I derive satisfaction from the fruits of the earth! My own.....Fountain Green....

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der erste Schultag

I don't normally do another post so fast, and please don't neglect to look at my previous post on Goethe and Schiller, which, actually I am so proud of! All the time I spent in Germany... in the beginning it was SO difficult when I didn't know the language or the culture. But by midway through the 10 years, a whole new world began to open up which has only enriched my life since then. It makes me sooooo happy, that I am able to tie in this culture to my Meeker painting, and Stuart.

But, I can not resist making this post. My blogging buddy Rouchswalwe , with my persistence, continues on with her own story of ....

the Zuckertüte, a Candy-Cone!

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click here for a photo of Lily's first day of school in Jena, Germany

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What do Schiller, Goethe, and William Grant (aka THE SKATER, portrait by Gilbert Stuart) have in common? a......HAT

Schiller (close friend of Goethe) travelling about on his mule in non-fashionable but practical outdoorwear in 1787.

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In 1775 Goethe, dissatisfied with a life of being a lawyer in Frankfurt, accepted the invitation from Duke Karl Augustus to his court in Weimar, this tiny town in the middle of the forest of Thuringen. Rather than entering into an official day-to-day job at that point, the duke treated Goethe (already famed as the author of “The Sorrows of Young Werther”), as a friend and the two caused hot gossipy scandal (aristocracy on the same level as a non-noble!) by riding hard on wild jaunts lasting days or weeks through the forested countryside, camping, laughing, playing jokes on the locals, enduring fatigue and displaying physical prowess and love of sport.
Soon enough, settled in Weimar Goethe entered into a complex, not easily definable, virtuous love relationship with Charlotte von Stein, aristocrat at court, seven years older, married with children. The attraction was one of infatuation on Goethe’s part, tempered by the practical, stoic keen intelligence and restrained emotion on the part of the noble Stein, later blossoming into love, yet ending in the sudden departure of Goethe for Italy ten years later.

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Charlotte and her husband were the owners of a small country estate called Gross Kochberg ( click here for a sketch of the estate by Goethe, a talented illustrator in his own right) , and here for a photograph. Today by car, one can reach this estate leaving Weimar in about an hour. In those days, it would take a day by horse, or a good 24 hrs to walk. Goethe would do both, to visit the lady of the manor. The tricorne or bicorne hats surely wouldn’t satisfy the need for protection against the elements. I mention all of this because, as many of you know, the weather in Germany can be really horrible; freezing and snowy in the winter, rain and thunder in the summer. So that romping through the wilderness that then existed between Weimar and Jena, or trekking to the country house of the beloved, all means that “weather appropriate” clothing is a necessity. In particular, a hat to protect the eyes and neck from the sun, providing warmth and protection from rain and snow, would be a must in those days when reaching a destination by walking or horseback was the norm... The tricorne or bicorne? no way. Thus, I believe that William Grant used, for his portrait, a FASHIONABLE form of this type of outdoorwear, nominally known in GERMANY as the Schlapphut. To see Goethe in Schlapphut click here.

the Skater (William Grant) by Gilbert Stuart 1782 National Gallery of Art

Is this a man projecting melancholy? (As proposed in Gilbert Stuart by Barratt and Miles referencing both Presssly and Evans). I believe, in short, this is a man of fashionable elegance and atheletic prowess and skill, with an air of happy self-satisfaction, to be out getting exercise!

The Barratt/Miles book describes the hat worn by the Skater as a “wide-awake hat” which makes no sense to me. The definition of a “wide-awake hat” is variably descibed as “inspired by the paramilitary campaign organization of the 1860s”, “popular in the American West during the late 1800's”, “affiliated with the Republican Party during the 1860 election” OR best definition “a hat with a low crown and very wide brim”.
Thus Grant chose a hat suitable for the weather for an outside activity on such a grey day; warm, protective against a possible snow flurry while engaging in sport out in nature, yet clearly an article of FASHIONABLE OUTDOORWEAR with a band around the base of the crown decorated with a buckle (as well as fancy buckles on his shoe/skates!). His whole outfit portrays elegance and up-to-date, practical fashion and proper gear for skating. Notice the peep of a tan leather glove, also indicative of expensive fashion, and the fur lapels. The stance, arms crossed, puts the viewer on notice that the skater has perfect balance, ie atheletic prowess, as he skates perfect circles etched into the ice. Notice in the background, the unfashionable bi-and tri-corne hats on the MEN, with arms flailing and legs wide apart, and ...poor saps... wearing NO GLOVES!

I believe that with the soaring popularity of Goethe, Schiller, and Kauffmann both in Europe and abroad, all promoting the love of nature at this time, the Schlapphut, already made popular by the German artists in Rome, became THE current article of fashion and can also be described as the headgear being worn by Stuart in his self-portrait.

Swiss/Austrian painter and friend of Goethe; Angelika Kauffmann-- "The whole world is angelikamad!"... an unquestionable influence on GS

Portrait of Antonio Zucchi by Angelika Kauffmann, c. 1782

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Portrait of William Grant by Gilbert Stuart 1782 (in England) The Skater

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Andrew W. Mellon Collection
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Anna Maria Angelika Catharina Kauffmann, self portrait in Wälder Tracht

Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum

For more on Angelika's (Possible/Highly Likely) Influence on Stuart (compare Kauffmann's portrait of Joshua Reynolds & Stuart's portrait of Benjamin Waterhouse posts March 11/12) click here.

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In 1767 Angelika was caught up in an affair of the heart; she met and married an attractive elegant young man and quickly, rashly entered into a secret marriage. His name... 'Count Frederick de Horn'. After the marriage he insisted on taking over Kauffmann's financial affairs, she resisted and ultimately the marriage was undone when Frederick turned out to be an imposter.

In 1781, after the quick dissolution of this first marriage, Angelika wed the Venetian painter Antonio Zucchi (portrait above). The couple moved to the capital of the artworld, Rome. Her house on the Pincio, once inhabited by the painter Anton Raphael Mengs, became the social center of the European intellectual elite and bastion for lovers of art.

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"In den siebziger Jahren [1870s] war die Nachfrage [demand] nach Gemälde und Nachstichen Kauffmanns oder nach Kauffmannesken Motiven so überwältigend, dass der dänische Botschafter Schönborn am 19. Oktober 1781 am Klopstock schrieb [wrote]: "the whole world is angelicamad"; ein Satz, der längst zum geflügelten Wort geworden ist.....

IN ENGLAND erlangte Kauffmanns Kunst internationalen Verbreitungsgrad allein durch die zahlreichen Punktierstiche, die nach ihren Werken gefertigt wurden....." from "Angelika Kauffmann 1741-1807 'Eine Dichterin mit dem Pinsel" Verlag Gerd Hatje, Dusseldorf 1998 p 31

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"... die vielleicht cultivierteste Frau der Welt ...." Zeitgenosse Herder über Angelika Kauffmann

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the Stuart frame continued..."wood type and quality, bole color, gold leafing method".... THE PLOT THICKENS

the German influence and the importance of context

I sent this photo to the conservator in my last letter, so that he could see the profile of the frame, and have a more detailed view of the gold-leafing.

On Fri, Sep 4 I wrote the expert back:
Dear Hugh,

Thanks so much for your input on my questions about the frame.
Yet now, I do have a couple more questions for you. I wonder what makes you believe that, "based on the picture, the frame is not original"?
There exist at least two G. Washington portraits with the same frame (suggested to be original with the portrait) ("reeded top moulding with cross straps, a plain deep cove, a bead and flat liner")-- and this would be a few years before the painting of my portrait which I figure was done about 1803. I also have no reason to believe that some generations back someone in the family changed the frame...
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re: "it has been lined and fitted with a later stretcher" What does the word "lined" mean?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~He wrote back 5 days later (I am ALWAYS appreciative of replies):

Dear Beth,
I have not forgotten your frame question. I say "based on the picture" because I get so much more information by looking at the object, for example, details like wood type and quality, bole color, gold leafing method, shade of gold, quality of compo or any carving, etc. A view of the outer edge would also be helpful to see if it is coved, the shape of the cove, whether it is painted or gilded, etc. The pattern of nail holes caused by holding the stretcher in the frame also can be considered.

Then there is the question of whether the frame is American or an English import. Reeded top moldings with ribbon bindings occur in the UK around 1800, but I believe they are not generally popular here till circa 1860. Again, based on the pictures, the frame appears to be American.

The lining of a painting involves adding a new support (often canvass) to the back, and I only mention it in passing. The replaced stretcher is more relevant; an original stretcher can be a significant help in determining whether a frame is original, and in this case that information is now lost.

I hope this helps. As I continue to study American frames I will remember your question and will let you know of any new information.

Best, Hugh

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This response was informative. I had never even thought of the issue, is the frame American or English? (Although as has already been mentioned, the issue of whether the canvas is American or British has been raised, it is British.) I decided to write back with details as to why I think the frame is most likely original, and thereby (according to Hugh) most likely British. Afterall, is the context not of high interest? To study something out of the context can not aid in understanding it seems to me. (Another example of this is the fact that in almost all studies/bios of Stuart, it seems that minimal attention is paid to the fact that there was a significant German immigration/population in Philadelphia at the time ("Germantown"), that at this time Goethe was the blazing cultural star.....{possible influence on the concept of the "Skater"?})

I wrote back:

Dear Hugh,

All very interesting, thanks for taking an interest in this, etc! If I could bring the portrait to you, I would, but it is not really feasible because both I and the portrait are in Santa Cruz, Ca. So..... when do you take trips to San Francisco, if ever? I would invite you over for the day in Santa Cruz, and then you could study the portrait!

The sitter in this Stuart portrait is Samuel Meeker (if you wikipedia him, I am the one who wrote a small entry), and in the late 1790s he had a shipping firm in Philadelphia called Meeker, Denman & Co-- his cousin William Meeker (also painted by Stuart) was their agent in London. William died in 1812, 'en route to New Orleans' so I believe that he died on the way home to the states from England, possibly as a tragic event due to the war of 1812. Samuel was a leading shipping merchant, and its very possible that the ships that took American goods out to Liverpool, brought back English items. Possibly frames? This type of reeded frame with cross straps was the original put on Stuart's G. Washington frame which was painted late 1790s, so surely it was/became popular before the 1860s?

There has been some compo repairs to some of the decor on this Meeker frame, when it fell over on its face, at my mom's house. She had taken it off the wall in her house because the walls were about to be painted! But otherwise I would have no reason to believe that any family member back to my gt grandmother would have decided to put this frame on the portrait, altho its possible. Going back further, my gt grandmother's gt grandmother Phoebe Meeker was gifted the portrait by her twin brother Samuel Meeker--Phoebe ended up getting a divorce so she would not have changed the frame, nor her daughter..... Somehow just thinking about this logically, it doesn't make sense that anyone other than the "wealthy sitter" purchased this frame in about 1803... 1803 was the last year Stuart was in Philadelphia, 1803 was the year the newly formed bank in which Meeker was one of the Directors (the Philadelphia National Bank, see book by Wainright) gave its first loan to Meeker, Denman & Co., 1803 was the year the twins Samuel and Phoebe turned 40... It just seems to be logical that Samuel might have been pleased to have the same frame put on his portrait as George did....Its very, very easy to imagine. Meeker liked to show every evidence of success, he even owned a country estate on the Schuylkill.
What I am telling you here, took years to piece together. Other Stuart sitters ... are more well-known...

Yes, I have been doing lots of research, since the portrait came from my mom to me. The frame is something I am no expert on, thats why what you have to say is so interesting. Its hard to take good quality photos close up--the two photos of the back which I sent you were taken with a high resolution camera. In my opinion there is no carving...It seems to me the only part not gilded is the outmost smallish part of the frame~ Is there a way I can photograph that would be more helpful? What does 'bole color' mean?
I am sending a new pic which should be at the bottom of this note, which should give you an idea of the profile and a closer look at the leafing.

Have a very good day,
remaining your obedient servant
Beth

Angelica's influence?

Paul Revere by John Singleton Copely

Benjamin Waterhouse; 1775 by Gilbert Stuart; Redwood Library & Athenaeum, RI

This is one of Gilbert's earliest portraits, of his good friend in Newport RI Benjamin Waterhouse who went on to develop the smallpox vaccine introduced to America in 1800. It was painted in 1775 when Gibby was 20. According to Barratt & Miles in Gilbert Stuart p. 22 ...Stuart "studied his friend's face to a degree unprecedented in his previous work. He achieved a variety of flesh tones, glossy and matte areas on the complexion, and modelling of the head and adjacent hand, replete with folds and sinew, so convicingly that Waterhouse's cheek convincingly rests on his knuckles. Stuart mimicked Copely....." These authors then show the portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copely, but I think the Copely portrait is not as.... simlar to Benjamin Waterhouse.....

as Angelica's portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds (see below entry 3/11). Darn similar! The same positioning of the hand on the cheek, play of shadow and light, luminescence of the skin: The Copely portrait was done in 1769, and Angelica's 1767. Surely the portrait of Joshua Reynolds would be just as well known, if not more well known, than the Copely portrait? Perhaps Angelica had some ...influence?

Well, I am not an expert, but it sure is fun to speculate....

In my next entry (I think!), I will give the Provenance of Samuel Meeker. The provenance of a painting, aka history of ownership, is what helps to lend authenticity to a particular work.

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German Influence on Stuart

This full length portrait of William Grant, called The Skater, was submitted by Stuart to the Royal Academy exhibition in 1782 and created a sensation, drawing much attention to the hitherto relatively unknown painter and significantly boosting his reputation. Stuart had travelled to England in 1775 and while at first jobbing as an organist, he managed to apprentice with Benjamin West (famous on both sides of the Atlantic), and this was his first venture outside of those bounds.
Various influences have been attributed to the coloring and style of this painting, including of course that of West and also, of the English school, Joshua Reynolds.
Others have suggested more obscure theories for his unusual (for Stuart) choice of colors. Evans has ascribed Stuart's interest in a theory of music/color he developed himself as has having a possible influence; writing "Stuart arrived at his own plan for "associating" pure colors and musical chords. ....Stuart's spectrum, based like Newton's on the prism, differed in that Stuart used two values of red to make eight colors, while Newton had seven colors and eight divisions corresponding to notes....." (The Genius of Gilbert Stuart by Dorinda Evans, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ 1999) Whatever one wants to make of this particular line of thought, what must strongly strike the viewer of the Skater, is the German influence.
Within a few years of this painting, Wilhelm Tischbein would gain world-wide fame with his full length portrait of the German literary poet and philosopher Goethe. The two men not only, in these two portraits, wear somewhat similar clothing (in particular the wide brimmed hat slightly lifting up on one side), but also share similar facial features. A strong wide face, sharp nose and dimple in the chin, the hair almost exactly the same, both can be described as having a robust physique. Goethe was the literary sun of the time, his influence after publishing the work Die Leiden des junger Werthers in 1774 radiating all over the world. Goethe then chose to throw off his chosen profession of law, to settle in the small dukedom of Weimar. Here was a postage-sized cultural jewel, loacated in the deepest countryside, yet the fame of the circle of the Duke Ernst August and his Duchess Anna-Amelia already well-established by the time Goethe arrived in 1776. He was, in all senses, a true celebrity of the time.
Goethe was a lover of nature, of exercise, in addition to his literary pursuits. The freedom of a cold water swim, or a frozen surface inviting vigorous movement, these were both favorite elements of Sturm und Drang. It is well established how Goethe taught the court the pleasures of ice-skating in nature (while composing poetry!) Afterwards he organized skating parties, filling all those participants with his joyous sense of bon vie!
Back to The Skater. It is well known that Stuart loved to talked to his customers, in an effort to draw out the personality to help capture the essense of the sitter. Would it not be likely that Gilbert was struck by the physical resemblance of Grant to Goethe, perhaps helping to strike up a conversation about the new cultural super-star; it is more than plausible that both were fans of Goethe and his novel and poetry, of Goethe's ability to depict emotion in literature, of his love of nature... and in fact, of his passion for ice-skating outdoors...
And perhaps sitter and artist were discussing the commission on a such a cold, grey, wintery day!

'Eis-Lebens-Lied' (Life Song on the Ice) by Goethe 1776

Sorglos ueber die Flaeche weg!