Charles Francis Adams

Anson Dickinson, Charles Francis Adams, 1827, watercolor on ivory, sight 2 ⁷⁄₈ x 2 ³⁄₈ in. (7.3 x 6.0 cm) rectangle, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore, 1950.4.34

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Artwork Details

Title: Charles Francis Adams
Artist: Anson Dickinson
Date: 1827
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sight 2 ⁷⁄₈ x 2 ³⁄₈ in. (7.3 x 6.0 cm) rectangle
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Henry L. Milmore
Mediums: watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor on ivory
Classifications: Painting
Miniature
Subjects: Portrait male — Adams, Charles Francis — bust
Occupation — education
Object Number: 1950.4.34
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1950.4.34

Artwork Description

Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886) was the son of John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams. His youth was spent in St. Petersburg and Paris, until his father was recalled to become secretary of state. After graduating from Harvard in 1825, he spent the next three years unemployed in Washington, D.C. He was elected to the Massachusetts legislature and the U.S. Congress, and was appointed minister to the Court of St. James’s in London. He also found time to publish ten volumes of the writings of his famous grandfather, John Adams. Charles’s son, Henry Adams, would also achieve prominence as a chronicler of the Gilded Age.