THOMAS HOVENDEN 1840-1895
Study for his painting 'The Last Moments of John Brown', circa 1882
Pencil, 16 3/4 x 11 7/8 inches

RISH born, Hovenden first studied at the Cork School of Design. He came to the United States in 1863 where he continued his training at the National Academy of Design. In 1874 he went to Paris working under Jules Breton and Alexandre Cabanel at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and exhibiting at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Back in New York by 1880, Hovenden became a member of the National Academy in 1882. In 1886 he succeeded Thomas Eakins as instructor at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

This acutely observed study is an early sketch for Hovenden's painting The Last Moments of John Brown, over which the artist labored for two years. The lone figure bears a compelling resemblance to the image of Robert E. Lee as photographed right after the Civil War by Mathew Brady. (As a colonel in the Federal Army it was Lee who quelled Brown's uprising at Harper's Ferry in 1859.) Although this figure does not occur in the final version of the work, this drawing illustrates something of the process by which Hovenden created his paintings.

click image to enlarge