Last Chance to See Young America in Delaware
Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum closes August 13 at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware.In this Young America painting by artist Frank Blackwell Mayer, Squire Jack Porter lounges on the porch of his farm, "Rose Meadows," near Eckhart, Maryland. Seventy-five years old at the time, he was widely known for opening the first coal mines for domestic use in Allegheny County. Porter also served as a captain in the War of 1812. Titling the work Independence, the artist aptly evokes Porter's leisure years, financial well being, and strength of character.
Source: Gwen Everett. Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured: Frank Blackwell Mayer, 1827–99, Independence (Squire Jack Porter), 1858, oil on paperboard, 12 x 15 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Harriet Lane Johnston Collection.
Young America: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum closes August 13 at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, Delaware.In this Young America painting by artist Frank Blackwell Mayer, Squire Jack Porter lounges on the porch of his farm, "Rose Meadows," near Eckhart, Maryland. Seventy-five years old at the time, he was widely known for opening the first coal mines for domestic use in Allegheny County. Porter also served as a captain in the War of 1812. Titling the work Independence, the artist aptly evokes Porter's leisure years, financial well being, and strength of character.