Figure 1.--This Waldo-Jewett portrait was painted in the 1830s. Unfortunately, the final digit is blurred in the back stamp--perhaps 1833. The boy is George Bradish. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 3, 1827. He looks to be about 7 years old which would mean the portrait was painted about 1834. His parents were George Bradish and Lucretia Benjamin Bradish. They married in Staten Island, New York on December 17, 1814, before moving to Louisiana where Bradish was a successful planter and river pilot in Plaquemines Parish. His sympathies appear to have been with the North. They were in New York where this portrait was painted (1830s). George Jr. married Elizabeth Salter 'Lizzie' Johnston on November 21, 1851. Shortly after their marriage, they purchased a large amount of land in Bayside, Long Island, New York. They had two children, George Johnston Bradish and Amy Bradish. During the Civil War, Bradish volunteered at the fort at Willet's Point in New York City, where he assisted with the care of wounded soldiers. Bradish died in New York (1895).

Samuel Lovett Waldo was Windham, Connecticutborn at the end of the Revolutionary War (1783). Waldo was a portrait painter at a time that American portraits were almost entirely done by naive/folk artists. He kind of falls into the cracks of American art history, but is important because there were so few trained American artists in the Ante-bellum era and he was probably the most prolific. We do not have much information about his early life, but he seems to have decided at an early point that he wanted to be an artits. Samuel as a 16-year old teenage moved to Hartford to study under Joseph Steward (1753-1822) (1799). Steward was an untrained minister naive/folk artist. And 4-years later, Waldo began doing portraits in Hartford (1803). He soon moved to Litchfield, Connecticut, and later Charleston, South Carolina because of an association wth ongressman John Rutledge. He had some succes, but realised that he needed more intensive training. From his early success he had the funds to go to London (1806). Armed with a letter of introduction from John Trunbull, he was befiended by fellow Amrican expatriats Benjamin West and John S. Copley, two great aarly Amerivcan artists. (The other early greats were Peale, Stuart, and Trunbull.) He worked in West's studio and was greatly influenced by him. He was one of the last painters to study under West. He also came to greatly admire the portraits of Thomas Lawence. Waldo roomed with another West student, Charles Bird King (1785-1862). Waldo was also able to study drawing at the Royal Academy, perfecting his skills. He exhibit a portrait in London (1808). He married before returning to America (1809). Waldo married twice and had fifteen children, five of whom died in infancy. He took up permanent residence in New York, alredy becoming America's financial center. He quckly earned a reputation as America's leading portraist. Early on he became assiociatd with William Jewett (1792-1874) (about 1810). Jewett began studying under him and then working as his assistant. They eventually formed a very successful partnership (1818/20)*. They worked so cloesly together, that today many portraits from their studio are attributed to Waldo-Jewett. Many of their portraits were stamped on the back "Waldo and Jewett" with a date and 'New York' where their studio was located. Here is a good example of their work in the 1830s--a boy named George Bradish (figure 1). You can see the standard Waldo-Jewett back stamp. It is unclear who was primarily responible. We also note a portrit of the Knapp family painted at about the same time (1833-34). Many art historians believe that Waldo painted the face and hands and Jewett filled in the clothing and draperies/background. 【Worcester Art Museum】 There is, however, not uniform ageement on this. Their parnrship ended (1846/54)*. With the end of the patnership, Jewett retired and ceased paintng. Waldo was a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Fine Arts (1817-28). He mostly paintd prominent adults, but did a few portraits of children and families. Waldo's most notable painting is of Andrew Jackson during the period they painted (1819). They were exr=xtremely prolific, but their ommissions were apparently impacted by the advent of photograpy, epecially (1850s). Jewett retired and we see fewer Waldo portraits.

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* The year range is because we have noted varying dates.

Sources

Worcester Art Museum. "Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783–1861)"

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Created: 4:09 AM 7/20/2025
Last updated: 4:09 AM 7/20/2025