Unknown Artist, Possibly George Cooke
Subject ~ Elizabeth Yancey Groves (1802-?)
Charleston or Savannah
Oil on Canvas 25” x 30”
Circa 1830
Commentary:
Elizabeth Yancey Groves was the daughter of Sarah Alston Groves and Joseph Groves of Abbeville, SC. Her mother was a member of one of South Carolina’s most prominent families and most important patrons of the fine arts. John Ashe Alston commissioned numerous paintings by Samuel F. B. Morse during his frequent visits to Charleston in the early 1820s.
Elizabeth married first, Dr. A. B. Arnold and after his death, Thomas Heard. Based on the fashionable dress worn by Elizabeth, this portrait can be dated to the 1830s. A portrait of Elizabeth’s sister Hannah also descended through the family and is also available.
The portrait is attributed to the itinerant artist George Cooke (1793-1849). George Cooke made several trips to South Carolina, Georgia and other part of the South during the 1830s and 1840s.
As with this portrait, Cooke’s early paintings are “simply modeled” and characterized by a flat, drawn feel that conveys little sense of space or volume. Art historian Estell Pennington notes that in Cooke’s work, like other largely self taught artists, “conventions of fine art are present but not fully employed.” (Cooke’s portrait of Mary Anne Foxall McKenny, 1837 in the Corcoran Collection is a comparable composition.)
Born in Saint Mary’s Maryland, Cooke does not seem to have enjoyed any early training as an artist but worked as a merchant in Georgetown as a young man. In 1824 he received some studio training from Charles Bird King and appears have been strongly influenced by the works of Thomas Sully. Cooke painted in Richmond where his portraits of members of the Valentine Family were among his most notable.
Condition: The painting shows evidence of prior restoration but of an undetermined date. There is some minor flaking in the upper right background. The frame is likely original.
Price: SOLD
