Portrait of a painter: The double-sided life and works of Jonas W. Holman (1805-1873)
Date
2006
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Jonas Holman (1805--1873) was a mid-nineteenth-century itinerant portrait painter, who also worked as a pastor, writer and doctor. He lived in southern Maine, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City and North Stonington, Connecticut during his lifetime. This thesis finds seeming contradictions in Holman's life, in his relationship with his patrons and in his painting style from which emerges a more nuanced understanding of how a portrait painter worked. It elaborates on the differences between Holman's work as a painter and his role as a pastor and it comments on his relationship with his patrons. Further, it makes distinctions in his portraits painted in both "folk" and "realistic" styles, which do not correspond to particular regions (i.e. rural or urban environments). When establishing himself in a city, Holman worked as a portrait painter before finding work as a doctor, or more often, as a pastor. Though he worked as a painter, Holman chose more often to list himself as a pastor or physician. Once he found permanent work as a pastor, it appears that he stopped painting portraits. For the most part, his patrons come from disparate occupations and are not necessarily followers of the same religious practices as Holman. This thesis includes twenty-nine of his known paintings attributed to Holman by evaluating characteristics found in his work.