Simon Fitch, Painter
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Portraits of Hannah and Ephraim Starr
of Goshen, CT,
painted in 1802 by Capt. Simon Fitch (1758-1835), No. 447. The two
paintings each measure 60 X 42 inches and are now at the Wadsworth
Atheneum in Hartford. On the back of each is a paper label. The one
on the left reads, "Portrait of Hannah Starr taken in the 56th Year
of her age by Simon Fitch in Febr 1802." On the back of the right
hand portrait, the label reads, "Ephraim Starr, Taken in the 57th
Year of his Age by Simon Fitch in Feb4 1802."
When the paintings were re-lined in preparation for an exhibition
of Simon Fitch paintings, "one could see a vague image of the
subject, a ghost-like apparition coming through. This shadowy outline
was the original drawing, done directly on the sized canvas with a brush
filled with a neutral mixture of paint...but there was no mistaking
the fact that Simon Fitch drew directly from life. No helpful graphs
were used. Direct, free-hand drawing is an acquired skill of long
practice, and difficult to do if one is not naturally gifted." There
are at least sixteen such portraits by Fitch, though some have not
been located.
Source: William Lamson Warren, Captain Simon Fitch of Lebanon, 1758-1835, Portrait Painter. Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 1961, pp. 96-129