Christian Gullager Explained

Christian Gullager (March 1, 1759 – November 12, 1826)^[1] was a Danish-American artist specializing in portraits and theatrical scenery in the late 18th century. He worked in Boston, Massachusetts,^[2] New York, and Philadelphia. ^[3]

Biography

Amandus Christian Gullager was born to Christian Guldager Prang and Marie Elisabeth Dalberg in Copenhagen. He trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he was awarded a silver medal in 1780. Gullager moved to Boston by 1786. In 1792, Gullager established a drawing academy at his house on Tremont Hill in Boston. Gullager worked in Newburyport in 1786, in Boston from 1789 to 1797, in New York City from 1797 to 1798, in Philadelphia 1798–1805, and in New York again in 1806–07. He died during 1826 in Philadelphia and was buried at the Second Presbyterian Church Yard, Third and Arch Streets. ^{[4] [5]}

Selected works

In America, portrait subjects included president George Washington.^[6] He designed scenery for Boston's Federal Street Theatre.^{[7] [8]}

Gullager created portraits of:

• Joseph Ball
• Captain Offin Boardman, about 1787^[9]
• Benjamin Greenleaf Boardman, about 1787
• Sarah Greenleaf Boardman (Mrs. Offin Boardman) ca.1787
• Reverend Eli Forbes
• John May (1748–1812), 1789^[10]
• David Plumer
• Mary Sargent Plumer (Mrs. David Plumer)
• Elizabeth Sewall Salisbury (Mrs. Samuel Salisbury), 1789
• Martha Saunders Salisbury (Mrs. Nicholas Salisbury), 1789
• Stephen Salisbury, 1789
• Daniel Waldo (1724–1808), 1789
• Rebecca Salisbury Waldo (Mrs. Daniel Waldo), 1789
• George Washington, 1789
• Abigail Leonard West (1796–1879), c. 1796
• David West, Jr. (1790–1825), c. 1796
• David West, Sr. (1765–1810), c. 1796
• Jeremiah Williams, ca.1780^[11]
• Mathilda Davis Williams, ca.1791

Further reading

• Christian Gullager, 1759–1826 (Worcester Art Museum) June 18–September 6, 1949.
• Christian Gullager: Portrait Painter to Federal America (National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.) April 23–September 20, 1976.
• Web site: Alsted . Niels . Christian Gullager . Lex.dk . 31 August 2024 . da . 17 July 2011.

External links

• Historic New England. Gullager's portrait of Reverend Eli Forbes.

Notes and References

1. Book: Marvin S. Sadik. Christian Gullager. Christian Gullager: Portrait Painter to Federal America. 1976. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 25.
2. Boston Directory, 1789
3. Web site: Christian Gullager, Biography of the Artist. Worcesterart.org. December 20, 2015.
4. Web site: American Artist Christian Gullager 1759-1826 . It's About Time. Barbara Wells Sarudy . December 20, 2015.
5. Web site: Guide to the Second Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records . Presbyterian Historical Society. December 20, 2015.
6. Herald of Freedom, Nov. 11, 1789
7. Polar Star (Boston), Jan. 25, 1797
8. Philadelphia Gazette, June 17, 1796
9. Worcester Art Museum. Christian Gullager (1759–1826). Retrieved 2010-07
10. American Antiquarian Society. Portraits at the American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved 2010-07
11. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gullager . Retrieved 2010-07