Jean Baptiste LE PAON, Lafayette at Yorktown, 1782-85, ca.
oil on canvas, 36 1/2 x 28 3/4 in.
Full length standing pose of Lafayette with his horse being held by his attendant (possibly James Armistead - not confirmed), battlefield in background.
L 400
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Provenance Notes:
This provenance is taken from 1934, 1938, 1955 correspondence in the object file. It is also listed in the "Lafayette Centenary Exhibition" catalogue in object file. Still undergoing research. There is a letter from Nolhac in the file that indicates he did not have a pedigree from the seller he purchased it from and could not remember the dealer in Paris he used. A note from Mr. Hubbard in the object file states "Le Paon was the court painter to Louis XVI and that the painting is recorded in Bergets French Dictionary of Painters." He also states there is an "engraving of the painting by Le Mire with dedication to General Washington engraved upon the plate. Mt. Vernon has one of these engravings. This is the original painting."
Noel Le Mire engraving also exists in the collection of the Houghton Library at Harvard University, inscribed with dedication to General Washington (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Honors Lafayette, catalog prepared by Agnes Mongan December 3, 1975 - March 12, 1976; pp. 40-41).
See ID# D 204 for the engraving.
Provenance:
circa 1908-1918 Rodman Wanamaker purchased from the collection of M. Pierre Nolhac(q) for $8500;
Mrs. Ripley Hitchcock of New York helped her friend, Sara Hill of New York, sell the painting to Helen Fahnstock Hubbard (Mrs. John Hubbard) for $3500.00. Gifted to Lafayette College by Mrs. Hubbard in 1938
According to an article in The Lafayette, June 10, 1938, Mrs. Helen Fahnstock of New York and Paris gave the painting in memory of her husband, John Hubbard, graduate of Harvard U, 1892. It was unveiled at Commencement 1938.
According to the Frick Reference Library, record # 18235:
Mlle de la F...
(h) Douthitt Gallery;
(h) M. Pierre de Nolhac;
(h) sold by him to Mr. Rodman Wanamaker, Philadelphia (died March 9, 1928);
(h) bequeathed by him to his son, Capt. John Wanamaker;
(h) presented by him to a relative;
(h) Mrs. John Hubbard, New York;
(h) Lafayette College, Van Wickle Library, Easton, Pennsylvania.
Credit Line: Lafayette College Art Collection, Easton, PA; Gift of Helen Fahnstock Hubbard in Memory of her husband, John Hubbard (Harvard class of 1892)