Hi listers – I am looking for any information/scholarship on a specific type of late 19^th/early 20^th century portrait.  These works seem to be the product of either itinerant artists or persons with commercial art background, and actually look like the painted photographs of the period, but I don’t think that these paintings started as photographs. They sometimes have rather dramatic backgrounds, as one might find in set for a theatrical production.

Another characteristic of the portraits is that the subjects often look like propped up corpses.  Children are especially strange looking in many of them. The images have a photographic quality but are often a tad grotesque, to put it nicely.

Many of the artists who seem to have painted these portraits may have also done murals in houses, signs, and other artistic work. Here in PA it seems that these fellows are frequently German immigrants (not PA German, but mid 19^th century German immigrants, so this is not Pennsylvania Dutch folk art) – and often have some other extenuating life circumstance, such as alcoholism.

I have also seen portraits of this type in the Southeastern US.

I would imagine that these paintings would be found more frequently in historical society collections rather than art museums.  Right now I am interested in the style specifically so the paintings do not have to be from Pennsylvania, although that is my main focus.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Candace Perry

Curator

Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center