would blog MHS. Endicott Family Papers. B35.f.l4. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 17 you 1877 Gentlemen, I have the honor to acknowledge on behalf of the President & Fellows of Harvard College the safe receipt of Page's portrait 5 your honored father, the late Treasurer of the College It has been hung in the MHS. Endicott Family Papers. B35.f.1't. HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBR IDGE, MASS. 17 you 1877 Levitlemen I have the houser to acknowledge on behalf of the President & Fellows of Harvard College the safe receipt of Page's portrait your honored father, the late Treasurer of the College It has been hung in the G copied all 1/20/05 R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Dept. New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116 New York. Jan'y 2d, 1877. Hon. Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University. Dear Sir: Our late father, Thomas W. Ward, deceased in 1858, for many years Treasurer of Harvard College, by his will left to the College Library the sun of Five Thousand dollars together with his portrait by W. Page. The legacy was duly paid, but the portrait remained with his widow who survived him many years. We now in compliance with the provisions of his will beg respect- fully to inform you that the picture will be forwarded to you by Messrs Williams & Everett free of all expense, and we annex at foot the extract of the will of the de- ceased having reference to the same. We are, dear Sir, with great respect, Truly yours, (Sgd) Samuel G. Ward 11 George Cabot Ward. "As I have hitherto devoted much of my time and money to public objects and institutions and to the concerns of individuals and shall continue to do so while I (Jan'y 2d, 1877) 2. I live, I do not think it necessary to give largely at my decease, but there being a few of those objects and institutions in which I have always taken an interest I do hereby give and bequeath to the President and Fellows of Harvard College ( of which corporation I was twelve years Treasurer,) the sum of Five thousand dollars, the income thereof to be annually expended in the purchase of books. I also give to said President and Fellows of Harvard College my portrait by Page, and the volume containing my account of my administration as Treasurer of that institution." R. Stanton Avery Special Collections Dept. New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02:16 12/19/2020 Appletons Cyclopredia of American Biography/Page, William - Wikisource, the free online library Appletons' Cyclopdia of American Biography/Page, William < Appletons' Cyclopdia of American Biography PAGE, William, artist, b. in Albany, N. Y., 23 Jan., 1811; d. in Tottenville, Staten island, N. Y., 1 Oct., 1885. He came to New York city with his parents at the age of nine, and in 1822 received a premium from the American institute for a drawing in India ink. At the age of fourteen he began to study law in the office of Frederick De Peyster, which he soon left to enter the studio of James Herring, and in less than a year he became a pupil of Samuel F. B. Morse, through whom he was also enrolled as a student in the Academy of design. His drawings in the antique class there won MmLage him the silver medal, but, uniting with the Presbyterian church, he determined to enter its ministry. For two years he studied theology at Andover and Amherst, at the end of which time he returned to art. After painting portraits in Albany for a year he went to New York, where he executed likenesses of William L. Marcy and John Quincy Adams. In 1836 he was elected a National academician, and he was president of the academy from 1871 till 1873. About 1844 he removed to Boston, but he returned in 1847 to New York, whence, after a stay of two years, he went to Europe, where he resided for eleven years in Florence and Rome, coming back to New York in 1860. While he was in Europe he painted the portraits of Robert Browning and his wife, and other well-known Englishmen and Americans, and produced also his "Venus," "Moses https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclopadia_of_American_Biography/Page,_William 1/2 12/19/2020 Appletons' Cyclopredia of American Biography/Page, William - Wikisource, the free online library and Aaron on Mount Horeb," "Infant Bacchus," and "Flight into Egypt." He also took occasion to study the works of the great masters, notably Titian, whom he admired and emulated, and whose method of painting he strove to discover. The copies that he executed of Titian's paintings were SO remarkable that one of them was seized by the Florentine authorities under the belief that it was the original. Page made many experiments in his study of art methods and color theories, and published a "New Geometrical Method of Measuring the Human Figure" (New York, 1860). His portraits, for which he was most noted, include those of Hiram Powers, painted in Florence about 1848, Henry Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Charles P. Daly (1848), in New York Historical Society, James Russell Lowell, Josiah Quincy, Gov. Reuben E. Fenton (1870), Charlotte Cushman, Gen. Grant (1880), Thomas Le Clear (1883), and Charles Sumner, which was left unfinished at the death of the statesman. His full-length painting of Admiral Farragut at the battle of Mobile Bay, of which a representation is given in the article FARRAGUT in this work, was purchased by a committee in 1871, and presented to the emperor of Russia. In 1870 Page exhibited a portrait head of Christ which attracted great attention and excited much controversy. His other paintings include, besides those already mentioned, "The Holy Family" (1837); "The Last Interview" (1838); "Head of Christ" (1870); "Ruth and Naomi"; and "Cupid" (1880). In 1874 Page made a second visit to Europe, in order to study the supposed death-mask of Shakespeare that is preserved in Germany, and on his return he executed a large bust and several portraits of the poet (1874-'8). He also possessed mechanical genius, and invented and patented various improvements in boats and guns. Retrieved from "https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php? itle=Appletons%27_Cyclopadia_of_American_Biography/Page,_William&oldid=7410866" This page was last edited on 25 April 2018, at 21:38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclopaedia_of_American_Biography/Page,_William 2/2 12/19/2020 Biographical Note A Finding Aid to the William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892 Digitized Collection Archi Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Search and Browse Collections / William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892 / Biographical Note William Page and Page Family papers, 1815-1947, bulk 1843-1892 Biographical Note The painter William Page was born in 1811 in Albany, NY. He attended public schools in New York City, and after working briefly in the law firm of Frederick de Peyster, was placed in the studio of the painter/engraven James Herring in 1825, where he received his first formal art training. He took classes at the National Academy of Design the year it was formed, in 1826, under Samuel F.B. Morse, and in 1827 he was awarded one of the National Academy's first annual student prizes. Page joined the Presbyterian church and attended Phillips Academy and Amherst with the intention of becoming a minister, but his artistic ability won out, and by 1830 he was painting commissioned portraits in Albany, Rochester, and New York. He married Lavinia Twibill in 1833, and they had three daughters between 1834 and 1839. He joined the American Academy and served on its board of directors in 1835. He exhibited at the American Academy, the National Academy of Design, the Boston Athenaeum, and other venues throughout the 1830s. Favorable reviews brought steady portrait commissions, including John Quincy Adams and the New York governor William L. Marcy. He was made a full member of the National Academy in 1837. In the 1840s, Page's reputation and maturity as a painter grew. His first wife left him around 1840, and in 1843 he married Sarah Dougherty. The couple moved to Albany, Boston, and back to New York seeking portrait commissions and patronage. He became friends with the poet James Russell Lowell and the writer and publisher Charles Frederick Briggs, two writers and editors who helped to promote his artwork in Boston and New York and published his theoretical writings. In 1844, Lowell dedicated his first published book of poetry to Page, and the following year, Briggs published a series of articles by Page in the Broadway Journal, entitled "The Art of the Use of Color in Imitation in Painting." The series described Page's arduous experiments with color and glazes, and his ideas about correspondences between spirituality and the natural world as expressed in art. In 1850, Page traveled to Florence, Italy, where he painted several copies of the works of Titian in the galleries of the Uffizi and Pitti palaces, studying his use of color and further developing his own experimental techniques. He became friends with the sculptor Hiram Powers, who introduced him to the writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, a Christian metaphysician whose ideas fueled Page's interest in the spiritual aspects of art. In 1852, Page moved to Rome, a city with an international artists' community and a strong market for art. Page found a loyal following in Rome's large circle of American ex-patriates, including the sculptors Thomas Crawford and Harriet Hosmer, the actress Charlotte Cushman, and the poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, all of whom sat for portraits by Page. In 1854, Page's second wife left him amidst public scandal, and he sank deep in debt to his bankers at Packenham and Hooker, an English firm that by 1856 had a lien on all the paintings in his studio. That same year Page met Sophia Stevens Hitchcock, an American widow traveling in Rome with Bertha Olmsted, Frederick Law Olmsted's sister. Hitchcock was from Barnet, Vermont and came to Europe after her first husband died in 1852 after only a year of marriage. She traveled to England and Paris, where she wrote regular columns on local customs and events for the New York Tribune that were published under the by-line "An American Woman in Paris." She and Page met in Rome in 1856, and in October 1857, after Page traveled back the United States to obtain a divorce from Sarah Dougherty, he and Sophia married. The couple stayed in Rome until 1860. His wife's three brothers, all businessmen, helped to promote his artwork in Europe and America. Page's paintings of this period include several Venus subjects, one of which was championed by his most loyal patrons, who raised $3000 by subscription to buy the painting for the Boston Athenaeum. A later Venus painting was rejected from the Paris salon for indecency, a controversy that was later leveraged for publicity in a touring exhibition in the United States. The Pages returned to the United States in 1860 and settled in Tottenville, New York. They had six children between 1858 and 1870. Page had a studio at Eagleswood, NJ, and later in the Studio Building on 10th Street in Manhattan, where he held a large exhibition in 1867. In the 1860s, he painted a self-portrait and a companion portrait of Sophia set in Rome, as well as a series of civil war heroes including Robert Gould Shaw, Winfield Scott, and David Farragut. Photographs played a consistent part in Page's technique of portraiture, and he is known to have worked with the photographer Matthew Brady, who attended art classes early on with Page, as well as the photographers Sarony and Charles Williamson, who taught classes on drawing from enlarged photo-transparencies. Brady photographs taken for Page include David Farragut and Reuben Fenton. Page lectured frequently on Titian and Venetian art, a subject in which he was considered an expert, and on painting technique and his philosophical ideas about nature, art, and spirituality. In 1871, Page was elected the president of the National Academy of Design, a post he held until 1873, but his poor health following a collapse in 1872 limited his accomplishments in office. Despite these limitations, he continued to paint, including portraits of General Grant, an idealized portrait of the president based on early photographs and Charles Sumner. He also became interested in portraiture of William Shakespeare around this time, and his studies resulted in a book, Shakespeare's Portraits, a bust based on existing portraiture, and a full- length portrait entitled "Shakespeare Reading," based on Page's measurements of a supposed death mask in Darmstadt, Germany, which he went to inspect against the advice of his doctor in 1874. In 1877, another collapse left Page incapacitated for the remainder of his life. Sophia Page tried editing and publishing his writings and lectures, but with little success. Page died in 1885. A life marked by personal scandal ended the same, when two of his daughters from his first marriage contested his will, tying up his estate in a lengthy and public probate trial. Their suit was dismissed in 1889, and Sophia Page died in 1892. This biography relies heavily on Joshua Taylor's William Page: The American Titian (1957). https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/william-page-and-page-family-papers-8925/biographical-note 1/1 12/19/2020 From the Harvard Art Museums' collections Thomas Wren Ward (1786-1858) Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College [Thankses Wren Ward. 1786-1858] https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/304844 1/7 12/19/2020 From the Harvard Art Museums' collections Thomas Wren Ward (1786-1858) 2 IdentificatiOrbject Number and H467 Creation People William Page, American (Albany, NY 1811 - 1885 Staten Island, NY) Thomas Wren Ward (1786 - 1858) Title Thomas Wren Ward (1786- 1858) Classification Paintings Work Type painting https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/304844 2/7 12/19/2020 From the Harvard Art Museums' collections Thomas Wren Ward (1786-1858) Date C. 1844-1847 Culture American Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/304844 Physical Medium Description@il on canvas Dimensions 76.2 X 63.8 cm (30 x 25 1/8 in.) framed: 94 X 80 X 12.7 cm (37 X 311/2 X 5 in.) Inscriptions and Marks label: verso, on frame: Thomas Wren Ward, Esq/1788-1858/William Page/1811-1885 label: verso, on frame: TREASURER OF HARVARD https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/304844 3/7 12/19/2020 From the Harvard Art Museums' collections Thomas Wren Ward (1786-1858) COLLEGE/1830-1842 ProvenancBequest of the sitter to his sons, Samuel Gray Ward and George Cabot Ward; their gift to Harvard, 1877; unknown location, C 1899- 1905; art market, 1905; purchased by the sitter's grandson, Thomas Wren Ward II; to his daughter Louise Endicott (Mrs. William Crowninshield Endicott, Jr.); her gift to Harvard College, 1936. AcquisitionCredit Line and Harvard University Portrait Rights Collection, Gift of Mrs. William C. Endicott, Jr., 1936 Object Number H467 https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/304844 4/7 12/19/2020 William Page (painter) - Wikipedia WIKIPEDIA William Page (painter) William Page (January 3, 1811 - October 1, 1885) was an American painter and William Page portrait artist. Contents Biography Works Notes References Biography Born January 3, 1811 Albany, New York Died October 1, 1885 (aged 74) Tottenville, Staten Island Signature MmLaye He came to New York City with his parents Self-portrait, 1830 at the age of nine, and in 1822 received a premium from the American Institute for a drawing in India ink. At the age of 14, he began to study law in the office of Frederick de Peyster, which he soon left to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Page_(painter) 1/4 12/19/2020 William Page (painter) - Wikipedia enter the studio of James Herring, and in less than a year he became a pupil of Samuel F. B. Morse, through whom he also enrolled at the National Academy of Design. [1] His drawings in the antique class at the National Academy won him the silver medal, but, having joined the Presbyterian Church, he determined to enter its ministry. For two years from 1828, he studied theology at the Andover Theological Seminar and Amherst College, at the end of which time he returned to art. After painting portraits in Albany for a year, he went to New York, where he executed likenesses of William L. Marcy and John Quincy Adams. In 1836, he was elected a National Academician, and he was president of the National Academy from 1871 until 1873 [1] About 1844 he moved to Boston, but in 1847 he returned to New York for a stay of two years. [2] Page then went to Italy, where he resided for eleven years in Florence and Rome, coming back to New York in 1860. While he was in Italy, he painted the portraits of Robert and Elizabeth Browning and other well-known Englishmen and Americans. He also took occasion to study the works of the great masters, notably Titian, whom he admired and emulated, and whose method of painting he strove to discover. The copies that he executed of Titian's paintings were SO remarkable that one of them was seized by the Florentine authorities under the belief that it was the original. [2] He was also a friend of William Wetmore Story and of James Russell Lowell, who dedicated his first collection of poems to him in 1843. He died in 1885, aged 74 on Staten Island. Although extravagantly praised as an artist from the 1830S into the 1860s, Page's reputation suffered in later life because he changed his style SO frequently and, more particularly, because technical characteristics of his painting method soon caused much of his work to darken excessively. Works In Italy, he produced his "Venus," "Moses and Aaron on Mount Horeb," "Infant Bacchus," and "Flight into Egypt." His work also includes a full-length portrait of Admiral David Farragut at the Battle of Mobile Bay (purchased by a committee in 1871, and presented to the emperor of Russia), the "Holy Family" (1837, now at the Boston Athenaeum) and "The Young Merchants" (now at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia). [1] In 1870, Page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Page_(painter 2/4 12/19/2020 William Page (painter) - Wikipedia exhibited a portrait head of Jesus Christ which attracted great attention and excited much controversy. Other paintings include: "The Last Interview" (1838), "Ruth and Naomi," and "Cupid" (1880). [2] Among his many portraits, for which he was most noted, are those of Hiram Powers (painted in Florence about 1848), Henry Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Charles P. Daly (1848, in New York Historical Society), James Russell Lowell, Josiah Quincy III, Gov. Reuben E. Fenton (1870), Charlotte Cushman, Ulysses S. Grant (1880), Thomas Le Clear (1883), and Charles Sumner (left unfinished upon Sumner's death). In 1874 Page made a second visit to Europe, in order to study Ludwig Becker's supposed death mask of William Shakespeare preserved in Germany, and on his return he executed a large bust and several portraits of Mrs William Page (c. 1860) Shakespeare (1874-78). [2] He wrote A New Geometrical Method of Measuring the Human Figure (1860), and invented and patented various improvements in boats and guns. [2] Notes 1. Chisholm 1911. 2. Wilson & Fiske 1900. Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Page, William" (https://en.wiki source.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclop%C3%A6dia_of_American_Biograph y/Page, William). Appletons' Cyclopxedia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Page_(painter) 3/4 3/30/2020 Century Archives - The Century Association Archives Foundation THE CENTURY ASSOCIATION I ARCHIVES About the CAAF CENTURY ASSOCIATION BIOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE Important Materials Earliest Members of the Century Association Publications < Previous Result 990 of 1531 (view results) Next > Online Reference Shelf Collection Access WILLIAM PAGE Board of Trustees How to Donate Artist Centurion, 1850-1860s Century Association Biographical Archive Born 3 January 1811 in Albany, New York Died 1 October 1885 in New York (Staten Island), New York Finding Aid to the Collection Buried Moravian Cemetery [, New Dorp, New York Finding Aid to the Platt Proposed by Abraham M. Cozzens Library Centurions on Stamps Elected 2 February 1850 at age thirty-nine FDR: A Man of the Century (Audio File) Archivist's Note: He likely resigned or was dropped from the rolls between 1860 and 1864. Hot Buttons: Presidential Campaigns and the Century Questions, comments, corrections: email caba@centuryarchives.org Association C 2012-2020 Century Association Archives Foundation Century Association Nobelists When the Clubhouse Was New (Photo Gallery) WILLIAM PAGE The American Titian BY JOSHUA C. TAYLOR 1957 Love THE UNIVERSITY CHICAGO PRESS Courlesy of Harcard University Figure 19: THOMAS WREN WARD y of Harvard University Figure 19: THOMAS WREN WARD Courtesy of Harvard University Figure 18: JOSIAH QUINCY m of Fine Arts, Boston Figure 20: SARGENT SMITH LITTLEHALE CATALOGUE OF WORKS 118. THOMAS WREN WARD, 1844-47 (Fig. 19) Canvas: 301X251 inches Given to Harvard by the Ward bequest in 1877, the portrait disappeared between 1898 and 1905. It was bought on the market by the Ward family and eventually again sold at auction. In 1936 it was presented once more to Harvard by Mrs. William C. Endicott. Although the painting is in need of cleaning, it is in fair condition, having retained its color rather better than some of Page's other thinly glazed portraits of the 1840's. Owner: Harvard University 119. DR. WARD A portrait of a lady owned by Dr. Ward was exhibited at the National Academy in 1839, No. 195. I20. C. C. WRIGHT, 1849 "A fearful likeness stands there in grim reality, with his intelligent counte- nance sharpened into a sternness which is quite appalling. The texture, the modelling, and the elusiveness of the means employed, characterize unmistak- ably the authorship of this work" (Bulletin of the American Art-Union, May, 1850, p. 21). The portrait is mentioned as just completed in the Bulletin of the American Art-Union, August, 1849, p. 28. I2I. "ZELDA," PORTRAIT OF A LADY, exhibited 1837 This portrait was mentioned as a companion to that of Mrs. Ridner, No. 95- It was engraved by Rawden, Wright, Hatch and Smillie. A print of the engraving is in the Frick Art Reference Library. Ref.: New-York Mirror, XIV (June IO, 1837), 399 Exhibited: National Academy, 1837, No. 248, owned by Page; Artists' Fund Society, Philadelphia, 1842, No. 43, owned by James Nevins, for sale; Artists Fund Hall, Philadelphia, September, 1843, No. 33 Anonymous Portraits I22. MINIATURE, exhibited I828 This miniature is mentioned in a letter in the Page Papers dated August 5, I828, written to Page from his mother when he was studying at Andover. Exhibited: National Academy, I828, No. I72 I23. PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN The subject is shown half-length, facing left. The face is clean-shaven with brown sideburns and full lips. The color is warm, the pigment generously ap- plied, and the whole has retained its brilliance to a remarkable degree. It was probably painted in the early 1830's. Owner: Page family I24. PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN Shown in profile to the left, the head is firmly modeled in opaque, yellowish pigment. The condition of the work is very poor, the upper layers of the paint 275 BOSTON VERSUS NEW YORK there were more, but his output was not large for a man of his reputa- tion. In character all the portraits painted at this time are readily dis- tinguishable from his earlier work, for much the same reasons that the portrait of Quincy contrasted with that of Adams. They all seem to be the result of careful study and deliberation and are far less bold in color and light and dark. The comment of the critic in I842, that in looking at Page's paintings one is never troubled with the idea of paint, was now even more appropriate. Probably closest to the portrait of Quincy in manner is the portrait of Thomas Wren Ward (Fig. 19) While in its forms it gives the effect of being freely painted, the thin layers of paint merge to obscure any texture of brushwork. Page had by now settled on his formula for flesh-it was already thought that he had discovered the secret of Titian -at which he had been working for several years. The underpainting is warm and dark, and the modeling progressed gradually from dark to light, SO gradually that it never reached white in the flesh and only occasionally in other parts of the painting. Two important results of this method can be seen in the portrait of Ward. In the first place, the modeling is no longer boldly sculptural) as it was, for example, in the early "Lady and Child"; his strokes do not wrap themselves around the form to create simple plastic volumes. Instead, once the drawing is established, areas are pushed back or brought forward by the careful, experimental application of touches of more or less transparent warm and cool color. This is evident, for ex- ample, in the modeling of the chin in this portrait and in that of Adams. There is no longer the tactile suggestion of form. The second point has to do with the values of light and dark. Page had from his early works used white sparingly in order not to destroy the richness of hue that he valued; in "The Whistle," for example, white hardly appears in the flesh but is reserved for the woman's tur- ban. The paint in these early works was sufficiently solid, however, to reflect a good deal of light, and while the works were much less con- trasting than others exhibited, they were by no means lost. With his new method of approach, the full-bodied surface gave way to a trans- parent one that seemed infinite in depth, reflecting little light. It was as 67