John Quincy Adams Ward

Henry Augustus Loop

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Best known as a portraitist, Loop was a popular choice among artists who were newly elected as associate Academicians to the National Academy of Design to satisfy the requirement that they provide portraits of themselves. The realist sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward (1830-1910) was elected an associate of the Academy in 1862 and a full Academician in 1863, later serving as president of the organization in 1873-74, the first sculptor to do so. This cabinet-sized likeness on panel is presumably a study for or reduced replica after Ward’s presentation portrait on canvas (19 7/8 x 15 7/8 in.) by Loop in the National Academy’s collection. Both depict the artist in a three-quarter bust-length pose against a monochromatic background. Ward has a full red beard and moustache and appears in contemporary dress—white shirt, brown bow tie and vest, and a black coat. The Metropolitan’s version descended in the family of Eliza Ward Thomas, Ward’s eldest sister, and remains in its original frame.

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