John Joseph Pershing
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of the City of Cincinnati through the National Art Committee, 1923
Accession Number
NPG.65.37
Tags
About this artwork
National Art Committee, City of Cincinnati sponsorship; gift 1923 to Smithsonian [NCFA]; transferred 1965 to NPG.
Art Historical Context
Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk’s 1920–21 portrait captures General John Joseph Pershing at the height of his renown. As commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War, Pershing led more than two million U.S. troops to victory in Europe. Volk, a respected American portraitist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, presents the general in full military bearing, emphasizing both personal dignity and national achievement. The painting belongs to a distinguished series commissioned by the National Art Committee and funded by the City of Cincinnati. These works were ...