General Andrew Jackson

John Wesley Jarvis

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Before serving as seventh president of the United States (1829-37), Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was a member of the House of Representatives, a United States senator, a major general in the army, and the first governor of Florida. The occasion for this formal, military portrait was his triumphal visit to New York in 1819, during which he was celebrated as the hero of the War of 1812 for his decisive victory over the British at New Orleans. The Corporation of the City of New York selected Jarvis's competitor John Vanderlyn to paint the official portrait for City Hall, but Jackson himself gave a commission to Jarvis, who soon painted at least seven more portraits for Jackson's friends and political allies, including Samuel Swartwout who vouched for the accuracy of the likeness. In April 1819, he wrote: "I have just been to see Jarvis's portrait of you. It is imimitable." Read a Native Perspective on this work.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art