John Mix Stanley self portrait
Self portrait circa 1865, has been authenticated by his granddaughter. She took one look at the paining and said that Pappy. Painting has been in my family for a long long time.
Painting spent many years in my mother’s family in the woodshed because no one liked the way the eyes followed you wherever you went in the room. I’m at my parents house for many years and now it hangs in my house. “Mr. Stanley” is written on the back. My mother spent many years researching who Mr. Stanley was. She finally determined and verified this is a self portrait by John Mix Stanley.
Inherited
Yes
Dear James,
Greetings, thank you for calling upon the experts at Mearto to evaluate your oil on panel painting. It's a lovely likeness and I look forward to completing your evaluation. To be more precise in my evaluation I have a couple of questions... Would you mind providing me with the dimensions of the panel of this piece so that I may consider its scale? Shall I also assume the piece is unsigned and the attribution lay with his granddaughter? A third question, this is tricky but it must be asked... Is it possible that the painting was done by another artist of Mix Stanley? I mention this because there is a record of a later portrait of him which was completed by Lewis Thomas Ives (1832-1894) so he certainly was painted by other artists.
I look forward to assisting you.
Kind Regards,
Erin-Marie Wallace M.A., AU
I’m trying to locate Julie Schimmel who might be able to assist in authentification, any ideas on contacting her? Thanks, jas
Dear James,
Dear James,
What a wonderful provenance! With this new information in hand, allow me to go back to my research and I'll have this tied up for you within the next 24 hours. Regarding Schimmel, if she is a current member of the Appraisers Association of America or The International Appraisers Association, you should be able to look her up directly through their websites.
Most Sincerely,
Erin-Marie
Good morning Erin-Marie,
Schimmel is an author and preparing the John Mix Stanley catalogue raisonné. She is unaware of this painting hence my desire to contact her.
jas
Greetings!
I hadn't realized there was a catalogue in the works. That's wonderful news for a painter who I believe is continuing to come into his own. As you likely know he is best known for his paintings of Native Americans and the American West. That said, there are a couple records of his portraits which have come to auction.
A couple of words about you evaluation. While the market is more aware today of Mix Stanley's work then ten years ago, with the exception of a single portrait example which was brought to market January 2019, the last time that one of his portraits was seen at auction was in 2013. At that time Bonham's sold a portrait for $5000USD which had been offered and unsold in 2009 by Sotheby's (asking $5000). This painting is known as "The Money Changer" and depicts a portrait of the same. More similar to your example is a painting by Mix Stanley depicting, 'Commodore John Rodgers' (25.5"x20"), which was personally dedicated to the sitter by the artist, this is the example which sold January 2019 at which time it sold for $6000USD.
I would expect to see your piece sell at auction in the same range as the Commodore. While yours is smaller, because it is a self-portrait I would expect this to bring greater interest. I would wager that if the piece was included in the catalogue we could add a premium to the expected estimate but exactly how much is speculative so for the moment I'll keep my estimate conservative.
If you have any follow-up questions, do let me know.
Kindest Regards,
Erin-Marie Wallace MA, AU
Hello Erin-Marie,
The visible canvas measures approximately 14“ x 18“. Stanley stayed at my family’s Inn on the Erie canal, the Cotter Inn, and left this painting with the Cotter’s, my relatives. Perhaps to pay his bar tab 😉. I doubt he would travel with a portrait done by another artist. The painting is unsigned and “Mr. Stanley“ is written on the back.
He had At least two granddaughters. Dorothy Baylis is now deceased and lived in Oak Park Illinois while my family lived nearby. According to my 95-year-old mother, she took one look at the painting and said “that’s Pappy”. My mother Is searching her records for correspondence with both granddaughters and it seems she had an appraisal done many years ago. She is searching for that as well.
jas