Artwork
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton is a pastel drawing by the Romanticist artist James Sharples|Ellen Wallace Sharples. It dates from 1796 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
James Sharples's pastel portrait, Alexander Hamilton, created circa 1796, presents a profile view of the subject on toned laid paper, now oxidized to a brown hue.
Subject & Meaning
The portrait captures Alexander Hamilton in a formal, understated attire, with powdered white hair and a dark, plain coat, reflecting his image a few years prior to his fatal duel.
Technique & Style
Executed in soft pastels, a medium chosen for its rapid application and lack of drying time, suiting the Sharples family's itinerant portrait business catering to wealthy American clientele.
History & Provenance
Part of The American Wing collection, this work is a product of the Sharples family's traveling portrait enterprise, known for quick, likeness-focused portraits.
Artist & collection
Artist
James Sharples|Ellen Wallace Sharples
James Sharples and his wife Ellen Wallace Sharples were known for portraits in pastel—vibrant sticks of colored chalk—on paper.
