Charles Francis Adams Jr. (II)
Date: 1876
Dimensions: Height: cm ( in.), Width: cm ( in.)
Medium: Painting – oil on canvas
Owner/Location: National Historical Park, Massachusetts ( Nat. Park Service), On exhibit in the Memorial Room of the Old House
Description
Millet was a close friend and associate of Adam’s. It was Adams who asked Millet to go to the Vienna Exposition to try and save the US exhibit there that was far behind in its completion before the event opened. Millet was only partially successful, but he learned some valuable lessons that benefited him on other such assignments that were to come his way in the future. When Adams commissioned Millet to paint his portrait, he also had him do a portrait of his wife, Mary Ogden Adams. The strong maroon background on Adams portrait echoed the portraits of Adams ancestors already hanging in the family home. While Charles portrait shows him as substantial, confident and successful, dressed in his formal clothes; Mary’s portrait shows her as successful, but in a softer light with a grey background with only hints of the deep maroon.
Charles Francis Adams II (1835-1915) was a soldier, businessman, civic leader, and historian. The descendant of two presidents and the son of noted diplomat Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), Adams served with distinction as a Union officer during the Civil War. After the war, he became a nationally recognized authority on the railroad industry, chairing the Massachusetts Railroad Commission from 1869 to 1879 and ultimately taking on the presidency of the Union Pacific Railroad for 6 years, 1884-1890. From 1890 to 1915, Adams spoke and wrote widely on historical, educational, economic, and political subjects from his positions as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1895-1915) and active member of the Harvard Board of Overseers and the Anti-Imperialist League. Works by Adams include biographies of Richard Henry Dana (1890) and of his father Charles Francis Adams (1900), as well as two important contributions to local history entitled Massachusetts: Its Historians and Its History (1893) and Three Episodes of Massachusetts History (1892).
Exhibitions / Provenance
Exhibitions:
1877 National Academy of Design, NYC, NY Annual Exhibition.
Provenance:
National Historical Park, Massachusetts ( Nat. Park Service), On exhibit in the Memorial Room of the Old House
Research / Publications
Research:
Publications: