Village Tavern
Artist: John Lewis Krimmel (American, 1786-1821)
Date: 1813-1814
Dimensions:
Painting: 17 × 22 1/2 in. (43.2 × 57.2 cm)
Frame: 23 3/4 × 29 1/8 × 2 3/4 in. (60.3 × 74 × 7 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 1954.13
Label Text:The tavern in early 19th-century America, with its mix of workmen and gentlemen merchants, was often the public heart of a village. But taverns were not only drinking establishments, they were gathering places where the news of the day was received and discussed (many of the major events in the founding of the nation—including the Revolutionary War itself—were conceived and planned in taverns). John Lewis Krimmel has provided clues to what has excited the group here: hanging on the wall are ship prints and a map of the Great Lakes region, where much of the War of 1812 (1812–15) was fought. It seems probable that the men are excited by good news from the field of battle.
The gestures and glances of the three figures in the center reveal a different drama. What do you think the woman and child are doing in the tavern, where they would not normally venture? Krimmel often included a moral message in his scenes of everyday life, which made his images even more appealing to his middleclass patrons.
The gestures and glances of the three figures in the center reveal a different drama. What do you think the woman and child are doing in the tavern, where they would not normally venture? Krimmel often included a moral message in his scenes of everyday life, which made his images even more appealing to his middleclass patrons.
On view
In Collection(s)