AFA Winter 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 109 2019 1. The journal is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts. attention of his family, Stock recovered, and within six months was painting again, and able to travel to obtain commissions in about a year. Scholars have suggested that society portraitist Chester Harding (1792–1866) may have directly influenced Stock. Born on a Massachusetts farm in 1792, Harding became the quintessential self-taught American artist. After pursuing a variety of occupations, he achieved success as a portrait painter of some note. After traveling and working in the West and in Washington, D.C., Harding returned to Northampton, Massachusetts, where he continued to paint and exhibited in the “Mechanical Arts” section of the Springfield Exposition, where Stock could have seen his work.. By the late-1820s, after studying in England, Harding established a studio in Boston and moved his family to Springfield, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. In his memoirs, he mentioned that he had several students while there, including one Franklin White (1814–1884). Stock also mentions White in his journal: In the fall of 1832, I commenced [painting]. Mr. Franklin White, a young artist, a pupil of Chester Harding called upon me frequently and showed me his manner of preparing and laying the pallet (sic) and lent me some portraits to copy . . . I followed this course for some months . . . and made so good a likeness as to induce my friends to encourage me by their patronage . . . I soon acquired more skill and experience in the use of the pencil and gave more perfect likenesses. Among the likenesses that Stock copied were Harding’s self- portrait and others of Springfield residents. Harding’s home and studio were only a few blocks from Stock’s workplace so it is entirely probable that Harding knew of Stock’s artistic efforts. In some cases, both painters executed portraits of the same sitters or families. Recent research has shown that another student of Harding, William Elwell (1810–1881) also shared patrons with Stock. The visual similarities between Harding’s early work— done before he viewed academic painting in England—to that of Stock, are obvious in their plain style. According to the data contained in his journal , Stock painted portraits of a variety of sitters during his working life. As one might expect, his family and neighbors were amply represented, but notable personages and members of an upwardly-mobile middle class were also included. Stock also painted window shades, made decorative boxes and frames, and copied published prints—generally engaging in activities that were typical of an artisan painter of the time. Thanks to his specially designed wheelchair, he was able to travel through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York, taking likenesses from about 1834 to 1854. In addition to the full-length images of children for which he is best known, he also painted half-length portraits of adults, miniatures, landscapes, and genre scenes. Many of the books in Stock’s library inventoried after his death showed illustrations that he included in his compositions. W. H. Bartlett’s American Scenery (1837) featured landscapes that Stock incorporated, or reimagined, into the background of some of his portraits. His entrepreneurial spirit surfaced when he staged several raffles of his own work—a practice that professional arts associations had used for years. In 1845, in Springfield, Stock, in partnership with Otis Hubbard Cooley, the husband of one of Stock’s sisters, offered a variety of artistic services, with Cooley taking daguerreotypes and Stock painting miniature portraits. But the partnership did not last long, with Stock noting in his journal in 1846: [I] having now decided to go back to New Bedford and Mr. Cooley wishing to remain in Spring field, we concluded that it is best to dissolve the partnership in business and, accordingly, the dissolution took place on the 20th March, 1846. Despite the extraordinary challenges of being paralyzed and suffering from multiple health issues throughout his life, Stock became one of the most prolific, and popular, folk artists of the day. In an era when no provisions were made to aid physically challenged people, Stock made his way through life by overcoming his perceived handicaps, helped by the advantages of a financially stable family, access to professional medical care, and the attention of the local artistic community. Stock’s business acumen allowed him to prosper in a field where many failed. His natural talent and inherent curiosity helped him to pursue various branches of artistic activity that showcased his skills and provided additional income. Stock remained optimistic throughout his life, which, no doubt, contributed to his success. At age twenty-eight, he mused in his journal: January 3th. This day completes 28 years of my life. It seems but as yesterday when I was a boy and roamed the fields as free as a lark . . . I have embraced much . . . suffering and affliction much sorrow and pain, not unmingled, however, with much joy and happiness.  The Remarkable Life of Joseph Whiting Stock is on view at the Fenimore Art Museum and at the Doctor's Office at The Farmers' Museum, both located in Cooperstown, New York, through December 31, 2019. For more information, call 607.547.1400. Jacquelyn Oak, guest curator of   The Remarkable Life of Joseph Whiting Stock, works in the Education Department at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont.