John Neagle Papers
1817-1865
(0.5 linear feet)

B N125.p

© American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street * Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
 American Philosophical Society 105 South Fifth Street Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386
Table of contents Abstract
John Neagle was among the better known portrait painters in Philadelphia during the first half of the nineteenth century and was the husband of Thomas Sully's niece, Mary C. Sully.

The Neagle Papers is a small assemblage of personal correspondence, documents, and notes assembled by Neagle during his career. The letters are primarily of a personal nature, but along with the five bound volumes, offer insight into Neagle's study of painting and the techniques he employed. Included among the bound volumes are recipes for varnish, megellup, and drying oils and notes on watercolor painting.
Background note
"From Sully's copy of Varley by J.N." Watercolor by Neagle,from "Lessons on landscape painting," Vol. 5
"From Sully's copy of Varley by J.N."
Watercolor by Neagle,from "Lessons on landscape painting," Vol. 5

Like Benjamin Franklin before him, John Neagle was a Bostonian by birth and a Philadelphia by nature. One of Philadelphia's better known portrait painters during the first half of the nineteenth century and a promoter of the fine arts, Neagle was born into a family of middling means in 1796. After his father, Maurice, an Irish immigrant, died in 1800, John was raised in Philadelphia. In his autobiography, Neagle describes becoming obsessed with drawing at an early age, despite little family encouragement.

While serving as an apprentice to the "coach and ornamental painter," Thomas Wilson, Neagle began to explore the possibility of painting as a career. Through Wilson, Neagle was introduced to the portrait painter Bass Otis, whose work, he wrote, "set me on fire." After two months study with Otis, and committed research on his own, Neagle committed himself to becoming a portrait painter.

Having earned praise for his ambition and the quality of his work, Neagle turned away from coach painting and at the end of his apprenticeship in 1818, he struck out for Lexington, Kentucky, in the hopes of establishing himself in business. Finding that another painter, Matthew Harris Jouett, was already well entrenched there, Neagle moved to New Orleans, where he was again thwarted by the competition, before returning to Philadelphia.

In his home city, Neagle's career slowly began to develop. Exhibiting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1821 on, and becoming the protege of Thomas Sully by 1824, Neagle continued his studies. In 1825, he traveled to Boston to study with Gilbert Stuart for a year, returning to Philadelphia to marry Mary Chester Sully, Sully's niece and stepdaughter.

Over the next decade, Neagle worked in both New York and Philadelphia, producing his best known works, including Pat Lyon at the Forge and his portrait ofthe physician, William Potts Dewees (1833). In 1842, he was commissioned topaint his last great work, the massive portrait of Henry Clay that now hangs inthe Union League of Philadelphia.

Neagle's artistic output began to wane following the death of his wife in 1845, and he began gradually to withdraw from public life. In the late 1850s, he suffered a severe stroke which left him partially paralyzed. He died at home in Philadelphia on September 17, 1865.


Scope and content
The Neagle Papers contains less than 0.25 linear feet of personal letters and documents and five notebooks relating to the life and work of the painter, John Neagle. The letters to his wife and children are affectionate, intimate, and generally relate strictly to personal or family matters, such as planning vacations or excursions. There are membership certificates in the Masonic Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and a share in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Several letters, however, provide glimpses into Neagle's work, including a letter from Kentucky, March 18, 1843, notifying Levi Dickson that he had completed his portrait of Henry Clay (now in the Union League), and letter written to Sully in 1838, congratulating him on winning a commission to paint Queen Victoria. In this letter, Neagle writes:

Your notices & reflections upon artists are of infinite service to me, not only as interesting arts & information of these great things I have not seen, & I fear may never see, but they stir a spirit within me which stimulates me blood, to healthful action and improves & strengthens my mind to the desire of grappling with new difficulties. How strangely one mind is capable of acting through time & distance upon another.

The collection also includes an interesting essay by Neagle on the history of painting, focussing mostly on the Italian masters of the Renaissance and baroque, and a valuable set of notes recording Thomas Sully's advice on the cleaning and restoration of paintings.

The bound volumes offer valuable insights into Neagle's artistic techniques. The volumes include recipes for megellup, varnishes, and drying oils, instructions for cleaning and restoring works of art, notes on watercolor and landscape techniques employed by Cornelius Varley, Thomas Sully, and others, and Neagle's "Hints for a painter with regard to his method of study."

Administrative information
Restrictions
None.

Provenance
Series II was acquired in 1959; Series I was purchased at Sotheby's, 1985.

Preferred citation
Cite as: John Neagle Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information
Recatalogued by rsc, 2002.

Alternate formats
Series II is available on microfilm (Film 1388)

Additional information
Related material
Additional Neagle Papers are located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ( Collection2112), which also houses Neagle's commonplace book ( Collection448)

References
Torchia, Robert, John Neagle: Philadelphia PortraitPainter (Philadelphia: HSP, 1989). Call no.: B N25t

Added entries
Subjects
  • Artists' materials
  • Artists--Pennsylvania
  • Landscape painting
  • Neagle family
  • Painting--Study and teaching
  • Sully family
  • Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872
  • Varley, Cornelius, 1781-1873
  • Whist

    • Contributors
  • Neagle, John, 1796-1865
  • Neagle, Mary Chester Sully
  • Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
  • Sully, Thomas, 1783-1872

    • Genre terms
  • Autobiographies
  • Recipes
  • Valentines
  • Watercolor paintings

    		•
    Contact information
    American Philosophical Society
    105 South Fifth Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386

    [http://www.amphilsoc.org/]

    ©2002


    Detailed inventory

    		 Series I. Correspondence and notes 1817-1865 37 items; 0.25 linear feet

    		Neagle, John, History of Painting (notebook) 1817 May 30 51p.

    		Fragmentary notes written at age 19, based on reading on the lives of Raphael, Michaelangelo, the Carraccis, Titian, Rubens, LeBrun, and Reynolds.

    		Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Membership certificate in Freemasons 1818 May 6

    		Carey, Matthew, ADS lease to John Neagle and George Catlin 1822 October 21

    		Lease of house at 116 Walnut Street to Neagle and Catlin for one year. "The said Neagle & Catlin hereby pledge themselves to keep the house in good order."

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Mary C. Sully 1825 August 3

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Moggy,(i.e Mary C. Sully) 1825 December 10

    		Neagle, John, Journal (fragments) 1826 May 26-1832 August 14 7p.

    		The remainder of the journal is located in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, filed with the "Blotter Book."

    		Ennis, Susan, ALS to John Neagle 1826 August 1826

    		Neagle, Alfred, ALS to John Neagle 1826?

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Thomas Sully 1838 February 6

    		Written on back of a printed prospectus, "John Neagle Proposes to Publish, By Subscription, A Series of Well Engraved Portraits of the Medical Professors of the University of Pennsylvania, From original Paintings, To Be Executed By Himself, Expressly for the Work."

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Blanch Sully 1838 June 23

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Levi Dickson 1843 March 18

    		Neagle, John, ALS to "children" 1844 August

    		Tiers, Arundius, ALS to John Neagle 1846 April 21

    		E.C., AL to John Neagle 1850 February 14

    		Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Stock Certificate 1850 May 29

    		Neagle, John, ALS to "children" 1850 August 9

    		Neagle, John, ALS to "children" 1850 August 13

    		Sully, Mary C., ALS to Sally Sully 1850 August 19

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Bettie and Sallie Neagle 1850 August 19

    		Neagle, John, Manuscript sketches of my career as an artist 1850? 7p.

    		Account of an Annuity settled by the late Levi Taylor 1852 July 14

    		Memorandum of the illness and death of Margaret Dickson Neagle (called "Moggie"), daughter of John Neagle, Artist, & Mary Chester Sully 1853 June 26 3p.

    		Neagle, John, ALS to "children" 1855 August 3

    		Neagle, John, ALS to "children" 1855 August 4

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Susan Neagle? 1859 April 25

    		Envelope--G. Robertson to John Neagle 1859 September 8

    		Neagle, John, ALS to Mary Neagle 1861 April 2

    		Neagle, John, Sketch of Jim Brown 1861

    		Pencil sketch on back of small envelope

    		Moore, David P., DS Invoice for funeral of John Neagle 1865 September 17

    		Envelope--John Neagle to Elizabeth I. Neagle and sisters n.d.

    		Carey, Henry C., ALS to John Neagle n.d.

    		Neagle, John, Clipped signatures n.d.

    		Neagle family genealogical material n.d.

    		Neagle, John, ALS to unidentified recipient n.d.

    		Neagle, John, Thomas Sully's advice about cleaning, varnishing, and restoring paintings n.d. 5p.

    		Includes notes on Sully's techniques, palette.

    		Sully family genealogical material n.d. 6p.

    		Sully family list of births, deaths and marriages n.d.

    		Series II. Bound volumes 1825-1850 5 vols.

    		Neagle, John, On Whist 1850

    		Neagle, John, Receipts for making Megellup, Varnish, & Drying Oil; also for cleaning pictures . . . 1825

    		Neagle, John, Hints for a painter with regard to his Method of Study, etc. n.d.

    		Neagle, John, [On artists and works of art] 1826

    		Neagle, John, Lessons on Landscape painting . . . Illustrated with copies from Sully's copies, Varley and others 1827 27p.

    		Includes samples of watercolor paints, copies of landscapes by Cornelius Varley, and extensive notes on the watercolor techniques employed by Varley, Sully, Titian, Rubens, and others.
    "Presented by J. Neagle to his daughter Elizabeth J. Neagle, Augt. 1842"