James Hamilton Shegogue

James Hamilton Shegogue (sometimes styled Shégogue) (February 22, 1806 – April 7, 1872) was an American painter. He was described as a "man of unusual education, a capable linguist, and a scientific explorer" by one contemporary.

Shegogue was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was of French extraction; little is known of his training, though it has been said he traveled in Europe and studied there in his early years. Around 1833 he exhibited a painting titled An Old Straw Hat, currently unlocated, at the American Academy of Fine Arts; this was the first fragment he showed publicly. Among the artists whose statement it attracted was John Trumbull. In 1839 his publish was listed on the register of students at the National Academy of Design, but he is known to have already developed a reputation as an artist. In 1846 he traveled to Europe for a year of study, prompting a critic for the Literary World to observe that he had already seen "no small degree of feat as a painter of portraits in fancy dresses, with an occasional fancy face." He returned to Europe for new painting trips during his career; on one of these a copy of Guido Reni's Aurora which he painted in the Palazzo Borghese for a New York client won compliment from the Princess Borghese.

Shegogue participated in the artistic sparkle of New York City, holding connection in the Old Sketch Club, the Artists Sketch Club, and the Century Association. He was quite prolific as a portraitist, but produced archives paintings, landscapes, and genre works as well. He became a enthusiast of the National Academy, and higher served as that organization's corresponding secretary, from 1849 to 1852. He was adjudged quite successful, and made a great deal of maintenance during his career. Tiring of city life, in 1862 he moved to Warrenville, Connecticut, where he died; he continued to paint stirring until a few weeks past his death.

Two portraits by Shegogue are in the National Academy collection, a self-portrait and one of James David Smillie; the former is recorded as having been shown at the Academy's annual exhibition in 1844, suggesting that it was painted to mark his height to full devotee status. Three watercolors are owned by the National Gallery of Art, and an oil portrait is in the growth of the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia. The portrait of Davy Crockett is at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Other pieces are owned by the City of New York, the New York Historical Society, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Media amalgamated to James Hamilton Shegogue at Wikimedia Commons