The Details:
Bass Otis. Account Book, 1815-1854. [catalog record]
Bass Otis. Self-Portrait. Oil on tin, 1860. [catalog record]
Both gift of Charles Henry Taylor, 1928 & 1931.
The Story:
During an artistic career spent primarily in Philadelphia and Boston, Bass Otis specialized in portrait painting. Because Otis was also credited with producing the first American lithograph (in 1819), his career was of special interest to Taylor. The self-portrait, at age 76, is Otis’s last known work. The account book lists more than three hundred portraits painted by Otis between 1819 and 1826. It also contains small sketches, such as the study of the Cresson children, on display here.
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