Alfred Jones
Mexican News

Public Domain

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Engraver Alfred Jones American, born England, 1819–1900

Artistafter Richard Caton Woodville American, 1825–1855

Printer J. Dalton

Publisher American Art Union1840–1851

CultureAmerican

Titles

Mexican News

Datec. 1851

PlaceNew York, United States

MediumEngraving with watercolor on wove paper

DimensionsImage: 20 5/8 × 18 3/8 in. (52.4 × 46.7 cm)
Sheet: 25 3/4 × 22 15/16in. (65.4 × 58.3cm)
Frame: 26 3/4 × 29 1/2 in. (67.9 × 74.9 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Louis K. Adler in honor of Meredith J. Long, in celebration of the North American Free Trade Agreement, at "One Great Night in November, 1993"

Object numberB.93.26

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionAlthough Richard Caton Woodville did not produce a large volume of artworks, his paintings became well known through prints like this one. The Mexican-American War, which resulted from the annexation of Texas in 1845, brought enormous new territory to the United States. With it came the difficult and troubling question of the possible expansion of slavery into those territories. Woodville’s depiction of the range of responses to the news of the war highlights the apprehensive expressions of the Black figures at the lower right, as well as their physical exclusion from the group on the porch.
Provenance[Morgenson Wunderlich Gallery, Chicago]; purchased by MFAH, 1993.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed below image, left: PAINTED BY R. C. WOODVILLE
Inscribed below image, right: ENGRAVED BY ALFRED JONES. / PRINTED BY J. DALTON
Inscribed below image, center: MEXICAN NEWS. / Engraved from the Original Picture / American Art-Union 1851

Signed inside plate, lower left of image: R. C. W. 1848

[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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