• Emigrant Scene
    W. H. Powell
    American Indians
    painting
    This painting is attributed to William Henry Powell (sometimes known as W.H. Powell), who was a New York City painter and trained under Henry Inman. The painting depicts a group of settlers and their horses around a covered wagon. An American Indian man is in the center of the group and pointing off into the distance, suggesting he is providing directions to the seated figure looking at a map. Powell's "Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto A.D. 1541" hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda.
  • Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe
    Charles Willson Peale
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait by Charles Willson Peale is of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe Surveyor of Public Buildings in 1803. Latrobe is best known as the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol, St. John's Church and Decatur House in Lafayette Square, the White House East and West Terraces, and the Madison state rooms. He was also the chief engineer for the U.S. Navy. Peale was a soldier and inventor as well as an artist and created many portraits of Revolutionary War era figures. His younger brother, James, and his son Rubens, each have pieces in the White House Collection. Joseph H. Bailey photographed the portrait for the White House Historical Association's records and publications in January 1975.
  • Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe
    Charles Willson Peale
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait by Charles Willson Peale is of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe Surveyor of Public Buildings in 1803. Latrobe is best known as the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol, St. John's Church and Decatur House in Lafayette Square, the White House East and West Terraces, and the Madison state rooms. He was also the chief engineer for the U.S. Navy. Peale was a soldier and inventor as well as an artist and created many portraits of Revolutionary War era figures. His younger brother, James, and his son Rubens, each have pieces in the White House Collection. Joseph H. Bailey photographed the portrait for the White House Historical Association's records and publications in January 1975.
  • Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe
    Charles Willson Peale
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait by Charles Willson Peale is of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe Surveyor of Public Buildings in 1803. Latrobe is best known as the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol, St. John's Church and Decatur House in Lafayette Square, the White House East and West Terraces, and the Madison state rooms. He was also the chief engineer for the U.S. Navy. Peale was a soldier and inventor as well as an artist and created many portraits of Revolutionary War era figures. His younger brother, James, and his son Rubens, each have pieces in the White House Collection. Joseph H. Bailey photographed the portrait for the White House Historical Association's records and publications in January 1975.
  • Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe
    Charles Willson Peale
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait by Charles Willson Peale is of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe Surveyor of Public Buildings in 1803. Latrobe is best known as the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol, St. John's Church and Decatur House in Lafayette Square, the White House East and West Terraces, and the Madison state rooms. He was also the chief engineer for the U.S. Navy. Peale was a soldier and inventor as well as an artist and created many portraits of Revolutionary War era figures. His younger brother, James, and his son Rubens, each have pieces in the White House Collection. Joseph H. Bailey photographed the portrait for the White House Historical Association's records and publications in January 1975.
  • Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe
    Charles Willson Peale
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait by Charles Willson Peale is of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. President Thomas Jefferson appointed Latrobe Surveyor of Public Buildings in 1803. Latrobe is best known as the architect who designed the U.S. Capitol, St. John's Church and Decatur House in Lafayette Square, the White House East and West Terraces, and the Madison state rooms. He was also the chief engineer for the U.S. Navy. Peale was a soldier and inventor as well as an artist and created many portraits of Revolutionary War era figures. His younger brother, James, and his son Rubens, each have pieces in the White House Collection. Joseph H. Bailey photographed the portrait for the White House Historical Association's records and publications in January 1975.
  • Going to Church
    George Henry Durrie
    landscape
    snow
    This rural landscape by George Henry Durrie was completed in 1853. A native of New England, Durrie often presented idyllic images of farm life, quiet refuges from America's rapid industrialization and escalating social and political tensions. This winter scene depicts members of a small town heading to church on foot and in horse-drawn sleighs.
  • Three-Master American Barque
    W. J. Bennett
    seascapes
    ships
    painting
    This seascape of a three-masted American ship, or barque, is attributed to W.J. Bennett, also known as William James Bennett. Dark clouds, high seas, and full sails suggest a stormy day as the ship navigates around a number of smaller vessels. Bennett was a British-born painter active in America and was a member of the National Academy of Design in New York City.
  • The Avenue in the Rain
    Childe Hassam
    New York
    Impressionism
    flags
    painting
    New York City
    This painting of American flags on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is by one of the most prominent American Impressionists of the early 20th century, Frederick Childe Hassam (known to many as Childe Hassam). The painting depicts both flags hanging on Fifth Avenue as well as reflections of the flags in water following a rainstorm. The Avenue in the Rain is one of 30 flag paintings of his that coincided with World War I. Fifth Avenue in New York City was frequently decorated with American flags at the time, as the United States debated entry into the war. This piece was completed in February of 1917, barely two months before Congress declared war on Germany on April 6th. Six Hassam pieces are in the White House Collection.
  • Hands Up! -- The Capture of Finnigan
    Frederic Remington
    painting
    This oil painting of an Old American West cowboy scene is by Frederic Remington. Remington, often referred to as Frederic Sackrider Remington, was a prolific painter of the American West and he focused primarily on subjects such as cowboys, American Indians, and the military. The painting is based on an account in future president Theodore Roosevelt's 1888 book Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail about his successful pursuit and capture of three thieves who had cut his boat loose from its mooring and taken it down the Little Missouri River. Remington and Roosevelt became close friends during this period. Three Remington pieces are in the White House Collection.
  • The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, July 4, 1776
    Charles-Edouard Armand-Dumaresq
    Philadelphia
    Pennsylvania
    Declaration of Independence
    American Revolution
    painting
    This painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 is by artist Charles-Edouard Armand-Dumaresq. Also in the White House Collection is a sketch that may be a draft by the artist for this work. The painting depicts the delegates actively debating and voting on the Declaration. Armand-Dumaresq was a French painter who visited the United States in the 1870s.
  • Street Scene in Winter (Snowstorm, New York)
    Childe Hassam
    snow
    New York
    New York City
    Impressionism
    painting
    This landscape painting is by noted American Impressionist Frederick Childe Hassam (often referred to as Childe Hassam). It shows a snow-covered New York street. The central figure appears to be a young boy slogging his way through the storm. Six Hassam pieces are in the White House Collection.
  • U.S.S. Galena
    Antonio N. G. Jacobsen
    seascapes
    ships
    painting
    This oil painting by Antonio Nicolo Gaspara Jacobsen is of the USS Galena. There have been three ships in the history of the United States named Galena. This painting represents the second, a wooden steamer built and launched in 1879. She was the flagship of Rear Admiral Pierce Crosby between October 1882 and January 1883 and was decommissioned in 1890. Jacobsen was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States in 1873. A prolific painter of ships and other maritime views, he was known as the "Audubon of Steam Vessels."
  • Gypsy Girl with Flowers
    Robert Henri
    Ashcan School
    flowers
    painting
    portraits
    This painting was done by American artist Robert Henri. Henri painted the little girl named Patience, while vacationing with Henri and his wife, Marjorie, joined George Bellows and his family for the summer in Ogunquit, Maine. She poses with flowers behind her, and her large, dark eyes stand out above her light gown, while her dark hair melds into the forest green background. Henri was a leading figure in the Ashcan school of realism and an influential teacher of art.
  • Red Roses and Green Leaves
    Martin Johnson Heade
    flowers
    Hudson River School
    painting
    still lifes
    This still life done was done by Martin Johnson Heade around 1903. The painting reveals the fine details of a small bouquet of roses, complete with many layers of petals and the sharp tips of thorns, resting atop a light tablecloth. Heade was an American artist who moved from portrait painting to landscapes during his career, including a number of marine paintings made in Florida. Two of his landscapes are also in the White House Collection.
  • Under the Palisades, in October
    Jasper Francis Cropsey
    Hudson River School
    landscapes
    painting
    This landscape is by Jasper Francis Cropsey, an American painter associated with the Hudson River School. This striking landscape is almost split between the darker cliff face, which is covered in trees whose leaves are turning, and the lighter left side of the sky and the quiet Hudson River, with a handful of boats visible on the water. Five of Cropsey's paintings are in the White House Collection.
  • The Farm Landing
    Edward Mitchell Bannister
    landscapes
    painting
    This painting of a private boat dock is by Edward Mitchell Bannister, one of the few paintings of this era by a person of color in the White House Collection. Bannister was originally Canadian and moved to the United States. Like James McNeil Whistler, Bannister was a Tonalist painter known for landscapes. This painting emphasizes different hues of green surrounding the small rowboat tied to a rustic dock that lies alongside a pasture.
  • John Hampden
    Hendrick Jan Serin
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait of John Hampden was done by Hendrick Jan Serin. Hampden was a figure in the English Civil War and was a leading politician and regimental officer on the side of the parliamentarians during the conflict. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Chalgrove Field in Oxfordshire.
  • Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
    Gainsborough Dupont
    portraits
    likeness
    This portrait of Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan is attributed to Gainsborough Dupont after Thomas Gainsborough. Gainsborough was the dominant British portraitist in between 1750 and 1800 and was also a founding member of the Royal Academy. Dupont was Gainsborough's nephew and student. Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (née Elizabeth Ann Linley) was a noted soprano and eldest daughter of composer Thomas Linley.
  • Asgaard Cornfield (Corn and Oats, Gray Day)
    Rockwell Kent
    landscapes
    painting
    New York
    This painting by Rockwell Kent depicts Asgaard Farm, which he purchased in the 1920s in northeastern New York state on the Au Sable River. The dark green of the corn stalks in the foreground is matched by the dark green trees covering one of the Adirondack mountains that fill the upper portion of the painting.
  • Benjamin Franklin
    David Martin
    portraits
    likeness
    painting
    American Revolution
    This portrait of Benjamin Franklin was painted by David Martin in 1767 in London, England. Franklin was a renowned author, inventor and philosopher who was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He also served as the representative of the United States in France during the Revolutionary War. Martin was a Scottish painter who later became famous for portraits; this painting of Franklin was one of his early works. Franklin lived in London twice on behalf of the United States and its interests. This portrait was commissioned by Robert Alexander of William Alexander and Sons in Edinburgh, Scotland during one of those stays when Alexander had a property claim being disputed with another man. Both Alexander and the plaintiff agreed to seek Franklin's legal advice and promised to adhere to Franklin's decision. Franklin ruled in favor of Alexander, who commissioned the portrait in gratitude for Franklin's ruling.
  • Castle Rock, Nahant, Massachusetts
    Alfred Thompson Bricher
    painting
    landscapes
    Massachusetts
    Hudson River School
    seascapes
    This landscape by Alfred Thompson Bricher is almost twice as wide as it is high, underscoring the vastness of the coast. The brown rock that rises on the left horizon is Castle Rock at Nahant, a peninsula near Lynn, Massachusetts. On the right side of the horizon stands a lighthouse on the small island of Egg Rock. Bricher is associated with the Hudson River School in American art and is known for seascapes and marine landscapes.
  • Tadeusz Kosciuszko
    Danute Sawnor
    portraits
    American Revolution
    military
    likeness
    This copy of a portrait of Tadeusz Kosciuszko was done by Danute Sawnor, based on the original portrait by Jozef Grassi. Kosciuszko was a Polish military leader who fought in the American Revolution. Kosciuszko is depicted wearing the insignia of the Order of Cincinnati, an exclusive society of military officers formed during the Revolutionary era.
  • Alexander Hamilton
    John Trumbull
    portraits
    Cabinet
    This portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of treasury, was painted by John Trumbull and was completed circa 1805. Trumbull, who had served as personal aide to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, painted numerous portraits which are in the White House Collection. Four of his paintings adorn the walls of the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. Hamilton was an influential figure in the early years of the United States and died at the age of 49 following a famous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.
  • Sunny Hills, California
    Thaddeus Welch
    landscapes
    California
    painting
    This landscape by painter Thaddeus Welch captures a large, prominent tree with several cows resting in its shade. Far off are the sunny hills of California where this painting gets its name and more cows wading and grazing in a small pond. Born in Indiana, Welch crossed the United States as a child and traveled extensively as an adult before settling in California.