Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Sarah Harrison probably commissioned Sheahan to execute this marble portrait of her husband shortly after his death in 1874. Although Harrison had been sickly during the last years of his life, the bust represents him as a vital elderly gentleman. Sheahan's neoclassical style seems particularly appropriate for a likeness of Harrison, an art collector who loved granduer and history in art. In 1878, four years after her husband's death, Sarah gave eleven paintings to the Academy in his memory. She bequeathed five more paintings and this bust of Harrison to the Academy in 1912. These two gifts encompass some of our most important pieces including, "The Artist in his Museum," "Penn's Treaty with the Indians," and Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos."