GROWING | PORTRAITIST | LANDSCAPIST | GALLERY |
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Uses of Photography |
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Portrait painting had been very popular in the early 19th-century, but by the mid-1800Ős, photographs were starting to take precedence and the demand for painted portraits began to diminish. This meant that portrait painters such as Junius Sloan has to find new subject matter. In Sloan's case, he took up landscape painting, but continued with portraits on the side. As a portraitist, Junius was able to use photography to his advantage. In some cases (such as the case of Emma Spencer, his sister-in-law who died at the age of 10) he took an existing black-and-white photograph and drew lines on it as a guide. He then paint a more detailed portrait in color. Junius did several posthumous portraits, possibly because the subject's loved ones did not have a formal portrait made before their death. These could serve the purpose of humanizing the memory of a loved one. Although photography took over the role of portrait painting, it could also serve as a tool to help painters. In the portrait of his wife Sara, shown here, he actually painted over a photographic salted-paper print. Junius probably colored the portrait photograph of Sara to show potential customers what he could do. He charged five to ten dollars for these 9 x 7 inch oil-colored portrait photographs. By comparison he got $25 for a 30 x 25 inch oil portrait on canvas. Becky Wake, Museum Studies Class 1999 and Richard H.W. Brauer | |
