TitleFrederick Stokes
Artist
Frederick William MacMonnies
(1863 - 1937)
Daten.d.
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 20 × 18 in.
Framed: 24 3/4 × 22 3/4 × 1 3/8 in.
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY, Purchased from Mrs. Frederick MacMonnies through the Henry Ward Ranger Fund, 1938
Object number816-P
Label TextMacMonnies has depicted Stokes in this bust-length portrait facing the viewer. He is somewhat balding and wears a moustache, small beard and a jacket. He holds a palette and brushes at lower right. It is assumed, though not proven, that this is a portrait of the well-known New York publisher Frederick Abbot Stokes (1857-1939), who discovered Edna Ferber, among others. The presence of the palette and brushes, however, is inexplicable.The portrait was exhibited by MacMonnies' widow at the Academy in 1938 as the artist's memorial representation in that, the year following his death. At that time, it was owned by the artist's widow and, at the close of the exhibition, it was purchased from her with part of that year's allocation from the Henry Ward Ranger Fund. Mrs. MacMonnies hoped that another, more representative work could be subsituted for the portrait of Stokes and, in compliance with that wish, the Academy delayed assigning the painting to another museum as was the procedure for Ranger Fund purchases. Evidently, Mrs. MacMonnies never made the suggested substitution and, therefore, the painting became part of the Academy's collection.
