AFA Summer 2020

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 65 Michele Felice Cornè (1752 Italy–1845 United States), The Mount Vernon Meeting a British Squadron, 1800. Oil on canvas. 18½ x 26½ inches. Gift of Mrs. Elizabeth C. Cook (1935 M4170). Cornè is widely recognized as America’s first professional marine painter. He emigrated from Naples to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1799, reputedly to avoid fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. Cornè’s Mediterranean style of ship portraiture, characterized by its precision and bright colors, influenced several followers. In Salem, he developed an extensive clientele among the wealthy merchant class and had a particular fondness for painting ships owned by the Derby family, prosperous merchants who were among the first Americans to send ships to trade in China. One of Cornè’s favorite subjects was the ship Mount Vernon , on which he had sailed to America .