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Artwork

Lucy Ellery Channing

Washington Allston

1779-1843

Lucy Ellery Channing

Oil on canvas

27 1/4 in x 22 7/8 in

1811

Label:

Lucy Ellery Channing peers out from her mob cap and shawl with a somber, reserved expression, exemplifying Allston’s claim that his paintings were “statements of mood, of shadow, of pensive solitude and reverie.” But Channing was no random sitter for Allston: at the time of the painting, she had recently become his mother-in-law and the newlyweds were preparing to depart for Europe. How might this personal connection affect our interpretation of Channing’s expression or of Allston’s choices in how to depict her?

As Published In:

Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection, 2012

As Exhibited In:

25 for 25, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, January 14–April 25, 2026

Face to Face: 200 Years of Portraiture from the Johnson Collection, TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, SC, October 19, 2022–January 7, 2023

Romantic Spirits: Nineteenth Century Paintings of the South from the Johnson Collection, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA, March 1–May 26, 2013, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, January 16–March 23, 2014, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, April 10–July 6, 2014, Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, July 25, 2014–February 15, 2015, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC, March 25–May 31, 2015, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC, August 8–November 2, 2015, The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA, November 22, 2015–March 6, 2016, Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, August 11–November 6, 2016

About This Artist

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