John Quincy Adams Ward 1863

Henry Augustus Loop painted this portrait of John Quincy Adams Ward, using oil on canvas, sometime in the late 19th century. Loop uses traditional artistic materials, but here we should consider the support structure on which this image is realized. Canvas is a woven fabric stretched across a wooden frame; itself a material of industry and trade. The cloth provides the matrix for the image, a surface rendered with a build-up of thin, translucent layers of pigment. The painting's surface texture, with the weave of the canvas peeking through, adds to the sense of an intimate encounter. This small scale, combined with the traditional methods of painting, creates a sense of crafted authenticity. Loop engages with a lineage of portraiture that, despite its fine art associations, shares ground with the skilled trades of carpentry, textile production and the industrial manufacturing of pigments. By appreciating the labor and materials involved, we gain a deeper understanding that transcends the divide between fine art and craft.