Post-Revolutionary War to Civil War
Exceptional Original Pen & Ink Drawing of Major General ANDREW JACKSON, Signed Herndon Davis, after Walch
Impressive Original Pen & Ink Drawing of General ANDREW JACKSON, Signed by Artist "H(erndon) Davis" image after Portrait by Samuel Walch, Crisp Extremely Fine.
This 20th century undated original Pen & Ink Drawing of General Andrew Jackson, by noted Denver, Colorado artist Herndon Davis, with image size of 7.25" x 9.25", on artist board 9.5" x 12.5", Artist Signed in white at bottom right on the artwork, with a pencil note on verso stating that the drawing was "Based upon portrait by Samuel Walch." Signature "Andrew Jackson" written in facsimile below the portrait. Some scuffing to left edge of artist board, minor soiling, with remnants of previous mounting tape at left and right lower edges which could be either matted over or trimmed off, and has some slight toning from previous mat. See: "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" a 2008 biography of Andrew Jackson, the Seventh President of the United States, book written by Jon Meacham.
HERNDON DAVIS (1901-1962) started his artistic career as a commercial illustrator in several midwestern cities. He moved to Denver in 1936, working for the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. While in Central City to paint a series of murals for the Central City Opera House, Davis painted the Face, thought to be an image of his wife, Nita. Over time, Davis began to notice how much Colorado, and Denver especially, were changing. Gone was the frontier West, which Davis set about to document in paintings of rickety frontier towns and old mine sites. He painted and sketched numerous portraits of notable Coloradans like Kit Carson, John Brisben Walker, and Helen Bonfils. He even painted Colorado dinosaurs.
But Davis is perhaps best appreciated for his paintings of old Denver and metro area buildings, often documenting them before they were lost. Davis painted the remaining homes of early Denver area settlers; fine Capitol Hill mansions; and famous nineteenth-century Denver buildings that had fallen into disrepair. Buildings that were the pride of nineteenth-century Denver are shown surrounded by parked cars, for sale signs, and empty lots. Yet each retains a dignified beauty that Davis was able to capture, even as the structures were about to be lost to the wrecking ball.