Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
58.P.64 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Portrait of George Ord |
Artist |
Smith, T. Henry |
Date |
1894 |
Description |
Half-length reclining figure turned slightly to his left, with right arm resting on a suggested table. The subject wears a dark coat with a white waistcoat, collared shirt, and cravat. Subject has short wavy gray-brown hair, dark brown eyes and a square jaw. Brown background. Signed: "T. Henry Smith/ after/ John Neagle" in lower left corner. |
Label |
George Ord, elected to the APS in 1817, served as secretary (1820–28, 1829–32), vice president (1832–36), councillor (1836–42), and librarian and treasurer (1842–48). As a scientist and naturalist, he published scientific studies and popular works, and held several positions at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He helped complete Scottish naturalist Alexander Wilson's (58.P.31) book "American Ornithology" after Wilson's death. Ord is infamous for his animosity towards Wilson's competitor John James Audubon. He critiqued and opposed Audubon at every turn, calling his "Ornithological Biography" "the biggest hodgepodge of stupidity and lies that I have ever seen." This portrait by T. Henry Smith is a copy of an 1829 portrait by John Neagle at the Academy of Natural Sciences. |
Medium |
Oil on canvas |
Dimensions |
H-41 W-36.25 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of members, 1894. |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century painting scientist APS Librarian natural history ornithology zoology |