Abel Parker Upshur
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Library of Congress
Accession Number
NPG.66.93
Tags
Art Historical Context
This 1844 print by Charles Fenderich portrays Abel Parker Upshur, a prominent American statesman and jurist who served as Secretary of the Navy and later Secretary of State under President John Tyler. The image captures him in formal attire, complete with a tie and cloak, reflecting the dignified bearing expected of public officials during the antebellum period. Created the same year Upshur tragically died in a naval accident, the portrait stands as a visual record of a key figure in early U.S. expansion and diplomacy. Fenderich, a Swiss-born lithographer active in America, specialized in por...