Samuel F. B. Morse

Byron M. Pickett

ca. 1870 · Bronze · The American Wing

Pickett's bust-length portrait of Morse is related to his over-lifesize bronze statue of the artist-inventor, dedicated in 1871 in Central Park. The elderly bearded Morse is portrayed in contemporary dress with cloaked shoulders. His drape and unincised pupils are typical neoclassical portrait devices that persisted well into the nineteenth century. This blend of realism and classicism exemplifies the portrait style favored by such other New York-based sculptors as Henry Kirke Brown, John Quincy Adams Ward, William O'Donovan, and Launt Thompson.

Artist

Byron M. Pickett

Date

ca. 1870

Medium

Bronze

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Joseph G. Reinis, 1998