Mr. Benjamin Schaum

1808·Oil on yellow poplar panel·21 × 16.8 cm (8 1/4 × 6 5/8 in.)

<p>Working as a coppersmith in his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jacob Eichholtz aspired to be a portraitist, eventually giving up his metalwork business to focus on painting by 1811. Despite having essentially no formal training in the medium, Eichholtz progressed quickly, becoming one of the leading portrait painters in Philadelphia and nearby areas. These portraits of the family of Benjamin Schaum (<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/61151/mrs-benjamin-schaum-anna-maria-heckensweiler">1980.743</a>, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/61156/master-schaum">1980.744</a>, and <a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/64686/miss-schaum">1980.745</a>), a fellow resident and coppersmith in Lancaster, are examples of the artist’s early style. Eichholtz first mastered small, profile portraits like these, typically executed on wooden panels. Later he developed a more sophisticated handling of the figure, rendering larger-scale compositions on canvas of his sitters in three-quarter views.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1808
Medium: Oil on yellow poplar panel
Dimensions: 21 × 16.8 cm (8 1/4 × 6 5/8 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Jacob Eichholtz

Artist

Jacob Eichholtz

Painting

Jacob Eichholtz was an American portrait painter active in the early nineteenth century, known for his direct, unflinching likenesses of prominent figures in Pennsylvania and beyond. Working primarily in oil on canvas, he developed a practice rooted in careful observation and restrained technical execution rather than romantic embellishment. His work documents the physiognomy and bearing of his era's political and mercantile elite with a clarity that prioritizes legibility over flattery.

Philadelphia

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