Ammi Phillips (1788-1865)
Ammi Phillips was born in Colebrook, Connecticut on 24 April 1788 and by 1811 was known to be working as an itinerant professional artist. Phillips married twice before his death in 1865 and it was his practice to move his family to a rural community to paint commissions in that region and then moving on when he had exhausted the demand in that area. In this manner he moved throughout western Connecticut and Massachusetts and up the Hudson River valley of New York to the Lake Champlain region painting probably as many as one thousand canvases.
Based on extensive study it is believed that Phillip’s work can be divided roughly between two periods, the first – from 1811 to about 1820 – is known as the “Border Limner” period, the second as the “Kent Limner” period.
The Border Limner’s work is relatively simple and unsophisticated, using pastel hues and very thin applications of paint to the canvas. His sitters were often portrayed with swollen necks, a long “sliding pond” lap if they were seated and flat, strongly outlined faces. The work from his later “Kent Limner” period is considerably more sophisticated, using darker colors, and a much heavier application of paint to canvas and strongly geometric compositions. His women often have delicate egg-shaped faces and delicate swan-like necks softened with lace and/or white collars on their sloping shoulders. His men have a more rugged look than in earlier years with sharply drawn features and distinctive well drawn hands which usually are either draped over a chair or table or hang free.
Today more than 300 paintings are firmly attributed to Ammi Phillips, including at least twelve signed works. After about 1850 early photography began to reduce the demand for painted commissions and examples of Phillips’s work from this period to his death in 1865 are relatively scarce.