Portrait of the Rev. Ellis Gray, Joseph Badger

Artwork Overview

Joseph Badger, Portrait of the Rev. Ellis Gray
Joseph Badger, Portrait of the Rev. Ellis Gray
Joseph Badger
Portrait of the Rev. Ellis Gray
circa 1758
Joseph Badger
1708–1765
Portrait of the Rev. Ellis Gray, circa 1758
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: oil; canvas
Dimensions:
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 76.2 x 63.5 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 30 x 25 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 35 x 30 x 2 3/8 in
Credit line: Museum purchase
Accession number: 1971.0145
Not on display
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Label texts

Exhibition Label: "This Land," Mar-2014, Kate Meyer Reverend Gray (1714-1753) served as pastor of the Second Church of Boston and infamously succumbed to fit of apoplexy (now known as a stroke) after preaching on the necessity of redemption. Gray’s collar resembles one seen in portraits produced almost a century earlier, such as those of fellow Second Church minister Cotton Mather. Indeed, Badger’s stylistic interpretation of his subject owes much to the Puritan precedent of somber expressions and costumes in portraiture. Such treatment of the sitter demonstrated that Gray was worth memorializing for both his projected historical significance and his exemplification of virtue and God-given prosperity. Archive Label 2003: This Portrait of Ellis Gray (1714-1753), the pastor of the Second or “New Brick” Church of Boston, is one of five versions of the subject. This example may have been painted after the tragic death of the sitter, who was stricken by apoplexy at the pulpit and died a few hours later. Joseph Badger, a self-taught artist, was for some years the principal portrait painter in Boston. Although Badger’s work displays many characteristics of a primitive artist, it likewise speaks of the reliance of early- American portraitists on late-seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century English conventions, which were well known in the colonies from engravings. While far less accomplished than the works of his English contemporaries Joseph Highmore or Joshua Reynolds (to name only two, whose works are hanging nearby), Badger’s work is typical of the directness and earnestness of colonial-American portraiture.

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 18. I’m David Cateforis with another art minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Among the Spencer’s 18th-century portrait paintings hangs an eerily disembodied head with a white tie, floating atop a shapeless black garment. Such is our first impression of Joseph Badger’s portrait of “Reverend Ellis Gray.” Who was Reverend Ellis Gray, and why did Badger choose to portray him in this manner? Reverend Gray served as pastor of the Second Church of Boston, an historically important church. Gray adhered to the orthodox Puritan view that people were predestined to heaven or hell. A little more than two generations later, the Second Church had embraced Unitarianism, a more liberal theology, and the notable American transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, briefly served as associate pastor. The artist who painted Gray’s likeness, Joseph Badger, was a successful portraitist in mid-18th century Boston, and over 150 of his works still survive. The Spencer’s portrait is very different from Badger’s typical paintings, however. Reverend Gray died quite suddenly, and some believe Badger depicted him posthumously. This may account for the Reverend’s specter-like appearance in this portrait. With thanks to Patrick Musick for his text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.