Sorolla and America

First Previous

Showing 1 of 1

Next Last

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Exhibition of Paintings by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, 1909.
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Carnegie Institute. Fourteenth Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute, May 2–June 30, 1910, no. 258.
Texas. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Mr. President: A Pictorial Parade of Presidents from Washington to Eisenhower 1789–1956, October 6–November 11, 1956, no. 45.
New York. IBM Gallery of Science and Art. Joaquín Sorolla: Painter of Light, March 14–May 13, 1989, no. 50.
Missouri. The Saint Louis Art Museum. Joaquín Sorolla: Painter of Light, June 23–August 13, 1989, no. 50.
California. San Diego Museum of Art. Joaquín Sorolla: Painter of Light, September 16–October 28, 1989, no. 50.
Ohio. Cincinnati Art Museum. Museum within a Museum: Treasures from the Taft at the Cincinnati Art Museum, January 12, 2002–February 2003 (during TMA renovation).
Dallas, Texas. Meadows Museum. Sorolla in America, December 13, 2013–April 19, 2014, no. 16.
California. San Diego Museum of Art. Sorolla In America, May 30, 2014–August 26, 2014, no. 16.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In a New Light: Treasures from the Taft, July 3, 2021–May 1, 2022.

Charles and Anna Taft commissioned this portrait of William Howard Taft, Charles’s younger half-brother. The president sat for the portrait at the White House three months after his inauguration. He wears a three-piece suit and gold pocket watch, and his sparkling eyes and dimples reveal what Anna called his “all conquering smile.” Taft remains the only individual to serve as both president (1909–1913) and as chief justice of the Supreme Court (1921–1930). Although he never lived in this house, Taft visited his brother and sister-in-law often and accepted the Republican nomination for president on the front steps.

Commissioned by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929], 1909; created by the artist; transferred to Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

This artwork is in the following list(s):