Painted portrait of James Hervey Otey
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- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
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- Location: Institution, City, State
- Wikidata
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Memorial Artwork
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Visual Work of Art
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Painted portrait of James Hervey Otey
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This posthumous portrait of Bishop Otey was commissioned by Leonidas Polk in 1846 but was not painted by Washington Bogart Cooper until 1885. It is one of a number of prominent portraits hanging in the lobby of the Sewanee Inn. Otey served as the chancellor of the University of the South before its official founding, from 1857-1863. Unhappy with the possibility of a fractured church, he refused to attend meetings about the formation of the Confederate Episcopal Church while he was Bishop of Tennessee. He died in 1863 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Washington Bogart Cooper, the artist, was renowned for his portraits. He earned the nickname "man of a thousand portraits" for his work painting around a total of over two thousand faces. Cooper was a lifelong Tennessean, born near Jonesborough; he painted through a list of politicians and clergymen including a number of Tennessee governors. His work for the Episcopal Church includes this portrait of Otey.
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58.5" x 39.5" painting in a gold frame
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Cooper, Washington Bogart
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1885
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2014
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Polk, Leonidas
- Site pages
Position: 824 (89 views)