AFA Autumn 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 97 2019 For America ends with paintings by current academicians whose work addresses contemporary concerns while harking back to the storied history of both this institution and this nation. Although the portrait requirement for academicians was eliminated more than two decades ago, many have continued to pay homage to it. Peter Saul’s diploma work, the only true self-portrait the artist has made up to this point, is a witty and wonderfully gruesome rejoinder to founder Samuel F. B. Morse’s self-portrait, painted when he was not yet twenty years old. Such paintings can provide mirrors for the present, ways of imagining and grappling with the past, and, finally, dreams for a possible future.  Alona Cooper Wilson, Alexander Nemerov, Patricia Hills, Jeremiah William McCarthy, and Jarrett Earnest. For more information about the exhibition and accompanying catalogue, call 212.988.7700 or visit www.amfedarts.org. Jeremiah William McCarthy is associate curator at the American Federation of Arts, New York. 1. Wendell Stanton Howard, “A Portrait by W. M. Chase,” Harper’s Monthly Magazine 113 (June 1906): 698. 2. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, “Questionnaire” (2012), National Academy of Design artist file. 3. Conversation with the author, June 2018. left: Samuel F. B. Morse, Self-Portrait, ca. 1809. Watercolor on ivory, 3¼ x 2⅝ inches. National Academy of Design, New York; Gift of Samuel P. Avery, John G. Brown, Thomas B. Clarke, Lockwood de Forest, Daniel Huntington, James C. Nicoll, and Harry W. Watrous, 1900 (894-P). Courtesy American Federation of Arts. right: Peter Saul (b. 1934), Self-Portrait, 2013. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 55 inches. National Academy of Design, New York; NA diploma presentation, August 7, 2013 (2013.10). © Peter Saul. Courtesy American Federation of Arts.