Cornelius Allerton 1821 - 1822

Ammi Phillips’s portrait of Cornelius Allerton was painted with oil on canvas. This was a common material for professional portraitists at the time, but Phillips was a self-taught artist, making his method and approach distinctive. Phillips likely built up the painting in layers, starting with broad strokes to define the composition, and then adding finer details. Look at the way Allerton’s face has been rendered – you can see the smooth, almost porcelain-like surface that Phillips achieved, a technique he returned to again and again. Note too, the stylized rendering of the book, and miniature horse, as though cut and pasted from another source. Phillips worked as an itinerant artist, traveling from town to town to find commissions; he produced thousands of portraits during his career, catering to a broad clientele. This might explain his interest in developing efficient techniques for capturing a likeness, allowing him to produce portraits at an affordable price. Ultimately, Phillips's work invites us to consider the labor, materials, and context that shape artistic creation.