{"id":181,"date":"2016-05-05T21:29:40","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T21:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/elstoncollection\/?page_id=181"},"modified":"2016-05-08T22:34:19","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T22:34:19","slug":"lew-wallace-portrait-of-major-elston","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/elstoncollection\/art-collection\/lew-wallace-portrait-of-major-elston\/","title":{"rendered":"Lew Wallace, Portrait of Major Elston"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Isaac<\/a>Lew Wallace<\/strong>, Portrait of Major Isaac Elston I as an Old Man<\/em>, c. 1866, oil on canvas<\/span><\/p>\n

General Lew Wallace, <\/span>famous author of <\/span>Ben Hur<\/span><\/i>, created this portrait of his father-in-law Major Isaac Elston about one year before Elston\u2019s death in 1867. The Major\u2019s facial features are accentuated, especially details of his liver spots and wrinkles. This hints at\u00a0the difficult\u00a0relationship the two had\u00a0throughout their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

This work is considered an important portrait and one of Wallace\u2019s first documented paintings. He produced yet another a portrait of a Crawfordsville native who later became a U.S senator and Lew\u2019s eventual brother-in-law, Henry Smith Lane. This painting was later exhibited at the First Quarterly Exhibition in Indianapolis by the Indiana Art Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"

Cows in the River painted by Lew Wallace, circa 1860. Public Domain (PD-US-unpublished)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Lew Wallace study in Crawfordsville, Indiana has four other Lew Wallace paintings on display. These are <\/span>The Kankakee<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Cows in the River <\/span><\/i>(pictured here), <\/span>The Conspirators<\/span><\/i> (a painting of the men who conspired to assassinate President Lincoln; Wallace was a judge in the trial), and <\/span>Love Triumphant<\/span><\/i>. All were painted around the period between 1860-1875.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Click the links below for more information about this\u00a0painting\u00a0and artist:<\/p>\n