John Quincy Adams Ward

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.