Mr. Kean as Richard the Third, Act V, engraved by William Henry Tuthill and published by Imbert and Company, circa 1825
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
label: date made
content: 1824-1825
label: date made
content: circa 1825
name: label: depicted
content: Kean, Edmund
label: depicted
content: Kean, Charles
label: maker
content: Imbert and Company
label: original artist
content: Tutthill, William H.
notes: label: Description
content: This hand-colored lithograph is a portrait of a man, probably Edmund Kean, dressed in a lavish medieval costume, performing Richard III by William Shakespeare. He is reclining on the floor with a sword beside him.
label: Description
content: Edmund Kean (1787/89-1833) was born in London. There are conflicting versions of his early years, but he appears to have begun performing as a child. Some accounts claim he appeared onstage as Cupid at the age of four in Noverre’s ballet <i> Cymon</i>. An uncle who worked in the entertainment business sparked Kean’s early interest in Shakespeare, and he made his debut as a Shakespearean actor while still a teenager. With his short stature and harsh voice, Kean defied the image of the conventional Shakespearian actor of his time, but he developed a forceful and romantic style that turned him into a public sensation. He won widespread acclaim as Shylock in <i> The Merchant of Venice</i> in 1814 and went on to demonstrate his artistic range with impassioned performances as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, and Richard III. The writer Samuel Taylor Coleridge claimed seeing Kean act was "like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lightening."
label: Description
content: He played to packed theaters when he launched an American tour in New York in 1820, starring in <i> Richard III </i>. But the temperamental reputation he’d acquired in England continued to grow in the United States, when he refused to appear at a Boston theater because the audience was too small. He left the country soon afterwards. The controversy was revived when he returned to the U.S. in 1825, sparking riots at the Park Theatre in New York. Kean also appeared on Canadian stages. During an 1826 visit to Quebec and Montreal, he was initiated into the Huron Indian tribe, made a chief, and given a tribal costume, which he often wore after returning to London. He even passed out visiting cards with his tribal name of Alanienouidet.
label: Description
content: Kean was famous not only for his combative personality but his personal eccentricities, including playing with a pet lion he kept in his living room. A scandalous divorce trial, which included charges of adultery, contributed to the decline in his popularity. His career had faded, and his health was weakened by heavy drinking when he collapsed onstage in 1833 while performing in <i> Othello </i> with his son Charles. He died a few weeks later. His turbulent life inspired a play by Jean Paul Sartre called <i> Kean </i>. Another play, <i> Alanienouidet</i>, was based on Kean's encounter with the Huron tribe.
label: Description
content: His son Charles Kean (1811-1868) came to be viewed as one of the leading tragic actors of his time, performing many of the same Shakespearian roles as his father Edmund. He was educated at Eton, was considered a gentleman, and well-liked by American audiences. If the sitter was Charles rather than Edmund, he would have been fairly young. A hand- written note on the back of the print indicates the sitter is Edmund and that it was from a performance at the Old Chestnut in Philadelphia in 1823 or 1825 though both the artist and lithographer primarily worked in New York.
label: Description
content: This lithograph was produced by Imbert and Company. Anthony Imbert (1794/95-1834) was a French naval officer, marine painter, illustrator, and pioneering New York lithographer. He is believed to have arrived in the city from France around 1824, possibly along with the French military officer Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) and remained there until his death. He established his lithographic firm, initially called Imbert & Co., around 1825. He began the business focusing on French themes and artists, then achieved a professional breakthrough when he was commissioned to print the <i> Memoir</i>, a commemorative volume celebrating the completion of the Erie Canal, prepared under the leadership of the Committee of the Common Council of the City of New York. The volume has been described as one of the first recorded American books illustrated with lithographs. It included the works of George Catlin and other well-known painters and also offered examples of various lithographic techniques of the time. Imbert also printed paintings of the Catskills, Niagara Falls and other natural landmarks, portraits, sheet music, book illustrations, and political and social satires.
label: Description
content: The artist is William Henry Tuthill who was an engraver and lithographer active 1825.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Theater
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3143
label: catalog number
content: 60.3143
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 6 in x 9 in; 15.24 cm x 22.86 cm