Introduction
Volumes Published
Microfilm Set Locations
Microfilm Guide
Permission to Quote
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Volumes Published
Series IV: Adams Family Portraits
Portraits of John and Abigail Adams
The 116 illustrations of this handsome and fascinating book
include all known life portraits, busts, and silhouettes of John and
Abigail Adams, plus many important replicas, copies, and engravings.
In the years between his 30th birthday and his 91st, John Adams sat for
his portrait at least 30 times. The variations in his appearance are
astonishing: The Adams who appears to be a Dutch burgher in a Vinkeles
engraving bears little resemblance to the man Copley portrayed a year later;
and the delicate physiognotrace by Saint-M?min differs far more radically
from the Browere life mask than can be accounted for by technique alone.
The book contains a particularly useful catalogue listing 219 items, all the
known paintings of John and Abigail Adams, with information about the artist,
the size of the painting, the date if possible, the inscription if any, and
the owner if known. A chart of the painted and engraved derivatives from Stuart's
famous portrait of John Adams shows how the second president's image was established
in the public mind during the 19th century.
The fact that John Adams was painted by the leading American artists
of his day—men such as Copley, Stuart, Trumbull, and West—makes
this book considerably more than just a collection of pictures of
one man. The editor has written lively sketches of each artist and
his work, and in each case has included the Adams family reaction
to the work. (This was often negative.) The result is a stimulating
survey of the state of art and portraiture in the late 18th century
and the early 19th.
Portraits of John Quincy Adams and His Wife
Portraits of John Quincy Adams and His Wife makes available a record which
both affords unique visual documentation of the most varied political career in American
history and exemplifies the work of the principal American portraitists from the days of
Copley and Stuart to the dawn of the daguerrean era.
Included in the volume's 159 illustrations are all the known life portraits, busts, and
silhouettes of John Quincy and Louisa Catherine Adams, along with important replicas,
copies, engravings, and representative likenesses of their siblings. The book is organized
into seven chapters which generally coincide with the major divisions of John Quincy Adams'
political career. Within each chapter are discussed the artists, their relationships with
the Adamses, and the provenance of each of their works. A comprehensive chronology of John
Quincy Adams' life for each period accompanies the chapter to which it pertains. All important
information about the size of each likeness, the inscriptions if any, the date executed, and
present ownership where known is summarized in the List of Illustrations.
The Adamses, as they watched themselves age over the years in the marble, ink, or oil of the
artists who portrayed them, recorded much by way of commentary on the artistic talent and process
at hand. Mr. Oliver, in his detailed and lively discussions of each likeness, makes full use of
the diaries and correspondence preserved in the Adams Papers, thus combining a learned appreciation
with an intimate glimpse of the Adamses as they saw themselves.
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Online:
Adams Time Line
Adams Genealogy
Biographical Sketches
Quotations
Selected Manuscripts
Adams Electronic Archive
JQA: One President's Adolescence
Other Resources:
Related Web Sites
Books about the Adamses
Adams Family Papers manuscript collection
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