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for Seth Wells Cheney
American, 1810 - 1856
Seth Cheney initially worked with his brother John as an engraver for a number of publishing firms. In 1834 he went to Paris to study, but illness soon forced him to return to the United States. He traveled abroad again in 1837, with another brother, to acquire mulberry trees for the family silk business. But he also used the opportunity to advance his study, staying in Europe until 1840. He then turned his talents toward portraiture and in 1841 set up practice in Boston. Working primarily as a crayon portraitist, he quickly attained considerable recognition and material success. It seems likely that Gray and Cheney had met and spent some time together in Rome when both were abroad in 1839-40. However, as Gray spent the winter of 1842-43 working in Boston, the two would have been able to renew their acquaintance-or initiate it-at that time.
By 1843 Cheney had saved enough money to return to Europe. After studying in Italy for two years, he returned to Boston and again was received with praise and patronage. Commissions frequently brought him to New York, and with his first appearance in an Academy annual-although he was not truly eligible because he did not live in the city-he was elected an Associate. He exhibited at the Academy only once more, in 1849. Illness in the last years of his life frequently forced Cheney to suspend his vocation. He was, however, able to make a final visit to Europe in 1854.
Council minutes record the acceptance of Cheney's portrait in qualification for election as an Associate without including the artist's name. However, it is Gray's portrait of him that is included in the listing of Associate diploma portraits in the Academy collection inventory published in 1852. Also, Gray's portrait is of the requisite dimensions for a diploma presentation. Both of these points support acceptance of Gray's image of him as Cheney's Associate diploma contribution. Yet it is puzzling that there is no record of a work by Gray ever having been in the collection that could be accounted his presentation to secure election as Academician. The Academy also has a portrait of Cheney by Jared Bradley Flagg, executed in about 1848-49, but its dimensions are very small (eight by ten inches). The work does not appear in Academy records until 1911, and it is not known when and how it entered the collection. It is therefore possible that Gray's portrait of Cheney was Gray's NA diploma presentation and that Flagg's portrait of Cheney was Cheney's ANA diploma presentation.
By 1843 Cheney had saved enough money to return to Europe. After studying in Italy for two years, he returned to Boston and again was received with praise and patronage. Commissions frequently brought him to New York, and with his first appearance in an Academy annual-although he was not truly eligible because he did not live in the city-he was elected an Associate. He exhibited at the Academy only once more, in 1849. Illness in the last years of his life frequently forced Cheney to suspend his vocation. He was, however, able to make a final visit to Europe in 1854.
Council minutes record the acceptance of Cheney's portrait in qualification for election as an Associate without including the artist's name. However, it is Gray's portrait of him that is included in the listing of Associate diploma portraits in the Academy collection inventory published in 1852. Also, Gray's portrait is of the requisite dimensions for a diploma presentation. Both of these points support acceptance of Gray's image of him as Cheney's Associate diploma contribution. Yet it is puzzling that there is no record of a work by Gray ever having been in the collection that could be accounted his presentation to secure election as Academician. The Academy also has a portrait of Cheney by Jared Bradley Flagg, executed in about 1848-49, but its dimensions are very small (eight by ten inches). The work does not appear in Academy records until 1911, and it is not known when and how it entered the collection. It is therefore possible that Gray's portrait of Cheney was Gray's NA diploma presentation and that Flagg's portrait of Cheney was Cheney's ANA diploma presentation.
