Description 

Who was Joel Parks? He left more of a defined footprint than many of the visual artists of his day. Parks produced scrupulously precise likenesses both above and below the New York-Pennsylvania border. He was a lively character, dedicated to his craft, who worked alongside his brothers Alonzo and Enos in a portrait-painting team. Newly recognized examples are in the Chrysler Museum of Art (74.6.2) and the National Gallery of Art (1955.11.7), both gifts from the famous Garbisch collection. The portraits of Dr. Parson Genet Shipman and Sarah Fairchild Shipman, both signed and dated, are from his 1830s heyday. 

Parks was extremely detail-oriented, which shows in his paintings, inside and out. Crisp, immaculate lace eyelets on women’s garments are a typical hallmark, such as Sarah Shipman’s wonderful bonnet. Unusually for a traveling painter, Parks signed most of his works in full with a calligraphic flourish. Later, seemingly not content with his perfect penmanship, he even had paper labels printed and nailed to the back of his paintings! Consequently, 22 known and inscribed Joel Parks paintings still survive, as featured on the American Folk Portraits Wiki. This includes both these Shipmans, and another pair of Shipmans: Dr. Parson Shipman’s brother, John O. Shipman, and his wife Rachel. Both men are depicted with the tools of their trade, enriching their visual context. Best of all, Parks must have been quite good at accurately taking a likeness: the brothers’ resemblance is striking.

Joel Parks was a natural fit for his chosen career. When the onset of photography decimated the portrait painter’s business, he still yearned for the life of an itinerant artist, which he had once excelled at. In 1847, longing for the old days, he wrote to his brother Enos, “I have often been tempted, when painting the outside of a building, to throw my old big brush as far as strength would permit, & say defiantly, ‘Ye cursed forever,’ & take up my palette & easel & travel.” Then he mused about the economics of buying a daguerreotype apparatus, to appease clients who thought his portraits were too expensive! The Shipmans, who bought four, must’ve felt his skills were worth every penny. 

Read more: https://americanfolkportraits.org/wiki/Category:Joel_Parks