# James Frothingham

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{{Short description|American painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = James Frothingham
| image         = James Frothingham.png
| image_size    =
| caption       = Frothingham depicted in a portrait by [Sarah C. Frothingham](/source/Sarah_C._Frothingham), his daughter
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = 1786
| birth_place   = [Charlestown, Massachusetts](/source/Charlestown%2C_Massachusetts), U.S.
| death_date    = January 6, 1864
| death_place   =
| known_for     = [Painting](/source/Painting)
| training      = [Gilbert Stuart](/source/Gilbert_Stuart)
| movement      =
| notable_works =
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
}}

'''James Frothingham''' (1786–1864)
<ref name=WAfroth>
   "Chester Harding (1792–1866)" (biography), Worcester Art, webpage:
   [http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/harding/biography/index.html WorcArt-Harding].
</ref>
<ref name=AMfroth>
   "Boston Painters and Paintings" (article), ''The Atlantic Monthly'',
   Volume 62, Issue 370, August 1888, p. 258, [LOC](/source/Library_of_Congress) webpage:
   [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncps:@field(DOCID+@lit(ABK2934-0062-30)):: LOC-AMonthly-Boston]
   (notes Samuel Dexter portrait flesh tone; has Dunlap & Gilbert Stuart
   quote: "No man in Boston but myself can paint so good a head.").
</ref>
was an American [portrait painter](/source/portrait_painter) in [Massachusetts](/source/Massachusetts) and [New York](/source/New_York_(state)). He was the father of the painter [Sarah C. Frothingham](/source/Sarah_C._Frothingham).

==Life and work==
Frothingham was born in [Charlestown, Massachusetts](/source/Charlestown%2C_Massachusetts).<ref name=WAfroth/> He began as a [chaise](/source/chaise) painter in his father's chaise manufactory. In the [Boston](/source/Boston) area, he was a student of [Gilbert Stuart](/source/Gilbert_Stuart).<ref name=WAfroth/> In 1888, ''[The Atlantic Monthly](/source/The_Atlantic)'' described him as "a portraitist of talent",<ref name=AMfroth/> adding that Stuart is quoted as having said of one of Frothingham's head portraits, "No man in Boston but myself can paint so good a head," and that Frothingham was greatly helped by Stuart's criticisms and encouragement, although initially his Nestor had advised him to adopt another, less precarious means of earning a livelihood.<ref name=AMfroth/>

''The Atlantic'' noted that there is a detailed portrait of [Samuel Dexter](/source/Samuel_Dexter) by Frothingham in the [Harvard Memorial Hall](/source/Memorial_Hall_(Harvard_University)), in which Dexter, wearing a white wig and a red cloak atop a black coat, holds a book in his hand, and appears lost in meditation, saying the flesh coloring in the painting is rather dry and parchment-like, but overall, the color is harmonious. Dunlap noted that heads depicted by James Frothingham were painted with great truth, freedom, and excellence.<ref name=AMfroth/>

He painted a number of likenesses in [Salem, Massachusetts](/source/Salem%2C_Massachusetts), including the wealthy merchant [Elias Hasket Derby](/source/Elias_Hasket_Derby). Frothingham would have been a regional competitor to the younger [Chester Harding](/source/Chester_Harding_(painter)) (1792–1866), but moved to [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) in 1826.

In 1828, he was elected into the [National Academy of Design](/source/National_Academy_of_Design) as an associate member, and became a full academician in 1831.

Frothingham was the subject of a portrait bust by [Joanna Quiner](/source/Joanna_Quiner).<ref name="Rubinstein1990">{{cite book|author=Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein|author-link=Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein|title=American women sculptors: a history of women working in three dimensions|url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenscu0000rubi|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8732-4}}</ref> His own portrait of her is held by the Beverly Public Library in [Beverly, Massachusetts](/source/Beverly%2C_Massachusetts).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_395.DUP1|title=Joanna Quiner|website=npg.si.edu|accessdate=19 May 2017}}</ref>

==Selection of portraits==
<gallery>
File:Frothingham EliasHasketDerby.jpg|''[Elias Hasket Derby](/source/Elias_Hasket_Derby)'', 1800-1825
File:William Badger by James Frothingham.jpg|''[William Badger](/source/William_Badger_(shipbuilder))'', c. 1805
Image:Frothingham LuciaPickering.jpg|''Lucia Pickering'', 1820
Image:Frothingham Brooks.jpg|''Elizabeth Brooks'', 1823
Image:Frothingham JonathanBrooks.jpg|''Jonathan Brooks'', 1823
File:Mrs_Peter_Gilman_Robbins.jpeg|''Mrs. Peter Gilman Robbins'', c.1818
</gallery>

==See also==
* [Francis Alexander](/source/Francis_Alexander_(painter)), an American painter who moved to [Boston](/source/Boston)
* [John Burgum](/source/John_Burgum), an ornamental painter and one of Frothingham's co-workers
* [John Coles](/source/John_Coles_(painter)), a portrait and heraldic painter and Frothingham friend who also studied under [Gilbert Stuart](/source/Gilbert_Stuart)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* "Chester Harding (1792–1866)" (biography), Worcester Art, webpage: [http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/harding/biography/index.html WorcArt-Harding].
* "Boston Painters and Paintings" (old article), ''The Atlantic Monthly'', Volume 62, Issue 370, August 1888, [LOC](/source/Library_of_Congress) webpage: [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ncps:@field(DOCID+@lit(ABK2934-0062-30)):: LOC-AMonthly-Boston].
* {{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Frothingham, James|year=1900}} Has 1781 as birth year, and Charleston as birthplace.

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frothingham, James}}
Category:1786 births
Category:1864 deaths
Category:18th-century American male artists
Category:18th-century American painters
Category:19th-century American male artists
Category:19th-century American painters
Category:American male painters
Category:Painters from Massachusetts
Category:Painters from New York City
Category:People from Charlestown, Boston

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Frothingham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frothingham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frothingham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.