Junius Brutus Stearns

Signing of the U.S.Constitution

Junius Brutus Stearns (born Lucius Sawyer Stearns) (1810, Arlington, VT — 1885, Brooklyn, NY ) was an American painter best known for his five part Washington Series (1847–1856).[1]

He was member of the National Academy of Design for several decades and member of its Council. His painting The Millennium was submitted as credentials for his admission, a painting discussed in great detail in the book Something Coming: Apocalyptic Expectation and Mid-Nineteenth-Century American Painting [2]

Personal life

Despite that Butler Art [1] reports Junius as having been born "Raphael Stearns", Junius Brutus Stearns was actually born Lucius Sawyer Stearns[3] June 2, 1810, in Vermont. He died September 17, 1885, in Brooklyn, New York, in a horse and carriage accident after returning from a night at the theatre.[4] He named two sons after him, one Lucius Stearns, and the other Junius Brutus Stearns, Jr. JB Stearns, Jr., served in the Civil War in the 44th Regiment.[5] JB Stearns served in the Civil War as well, New York's 12th Regiment.[6][7][7] He also had two other sons named Raphael and Michaelangelo, and a daughter, Edith Sylvia.[8][9]

Paintings

JB Stearns is most famous for his series on George Washington, written about extensively by Mark Thistlewaite.[10] Of these his painting, Washington as a Statesman,[1] depicts President Washington addressing the Constitutional Convention; it is the subject of a US Postage Stamp in 1937.[11]

150th Anniversary of Signing, engraving after Stearns painting.
Hannah Duston by Stearns

Stearns also painted a second series of Washington in which he depicted free blacks.[12] Not as much is known about this series or the intentions of the artist in so portraying blacks on the eve of the Civil War, although there was supposition by Mack, et al.[13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention by Junius Brutus Stearns - Teaching American History". teachingamericanhistory.org. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  2. ↑ [Gail E. Husch (2000). Something Coming: Apocalyptic Expectation and Mid-Nineteenth-Century American Painting].
  3. ↑ "Search - Genealogy.com". genealogy.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  4. ↑ New York Times (09.19.1885)
  5. ↑ THE BATTLES BEFORE RICHMOND - Lists of Wounded in the Different Encounters. NAMES OF THE PRISONERS IN RICHMOND. SECOND MAINE REGIMENT. TWENTY-SECOND MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT. TW...
  6. ↑ "Stearns Genealogy and Memoirs". google.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 "History and honorary roll of the Twelfth Regiment, Infantry, N.G.S.N.Y". google.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "RootsWeb: PETIT-L Edith (Stearns) Foy-Pettit and stepson Wade C. Pettit". rootsweb.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Catalogue of the Loan Exhibition of Historical Portraits and Relics ...". google.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Thistlewaite, Mark Edward (1979). The Image of George Washington: Studies in Mid-Nineteenth-Century American History Painting. New York: Garland.
  11. ↑ SESQUICENTENNIAL OF CONSTITUTION COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP ISSUE OF 1937.
  12. ↑ JUNIUS BRUTUS STEARNS 1810
  13. ↑ "Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art: Angela D. Mack, Stephen G. Hoffius, Todd D. Smith: 9781570037207: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
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