Joseph Ritner
Item
Title
Joseph Ritner
Creator
Albert Newsam
American, 1809–1864
After John F. Francis
American, 1808–1886
Printed by P. S. Duval
Published in c. 1838 by John F. Francis
American, 1809–1864
After John F. Francis
American, 1808–1886
Printed by P. S. Duval
Published in c. 1838 by John F. Francis
Materials
Lithograph with hand coloring
Measurements
18 x13-3/4 in. (45.7 x 34.9 cm)
Description
Albert Newsam, one of the leading artists working for Peter Duval’s lithography company, specialized in rendering portraits on stone. Here he reproduces a painting by John Francis of Joseph Ritner, the eighth Governor of Pennsylvania who in 1938 was running for re-election. The pose, with the confident candidate resting his hand upon a plow, was calculated to collect votes, a demonstration to the common folk that despite all the gubernatorial trappings Ritner was at heart just a simple country boy. It didn’t work. Ritner, an Anti-Masonic politician with Whig Party support, lost to his Democratic opponent, David Rittenhouse Porter, in a close election that was hotly contested in both houses of the General Assembly.
Adapted from the entry written by Judith Hansen O’Toole for the 1980 Pennsylvania Prints exhibition catalogue.
Adapted from the entry written by Judith Hansen O’Toole for the 1980 Pennsylvania Prints exhibition catalogue.
Source
Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, partial gift and purchase from John C. O’Connor and Ralph M. Yeager.
Identifier
86.657
Rights
This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.