(American born Ireland, 1840 - 1895)
The Artist in His Studio
Oil on canvas, 20 1/8 x 24 1/8 inches
Signed at lower left: “Hovenden/1873”
This work is a self-portrait of Thomas Hovenden in his studio, seated at left (“stage right”) chatting with a companion. After Hovenden fulfilled his naturalization requirements in New York, his friend and fellow artist Hugh Bolton Jones invited him to Baltimore where they set up a shared studio in 1868. It is likely that the sitter depicted at right with pipe and tasseled hat is Jones.
Hovenden executed at least two other self-portraits: Self-Portrait (private collection) painted the same year as this work; and Self-Portrait of the Artist in His Studio (Yale University Art Gallery) which he painted in 1875 while in Paris.
Painter and etcher Thomas Hovenden was born in Dunmanway, Ireland, in 1840. He studied at the local Cork School of Design, and, after coming to the United States, at the National Academy of Design in New York City and in Paris under Alexander Cabanel. Hovenden was a member of the New York Etching Club, and he became a member of the National Academy of Design in 1882. He started exhibiting at the National Academy in 1874, and his work was shown at the Paris Salon in 1876 and 1878, and at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He died in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, in 1895.
About the Artist
(American born Ireland, 1840 - 1895)
Painter and etcher Thomas Hovenden was born in Dunmanway, Ireland, in 1840. He studied at the local Cork School of Design, and, after immigrating to the United States, at the National Academy of Design in New York City and in Paris under Alexander Cabanel. Hovenden was a member of the New York Etching Club, and he became a member of the National Academy of Design in 1882. He started exhibiting at the National Academy in 1874, and his work was shown at the Paris Salon in 1876 and 1878, and at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He died in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, in 1895.
