Arts & Entertainment

Tour of Revolutionary War Paintings

Fraunces Tavern Museum curator to give guided tour of historic Dunsmore paintings at Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster.

Art and history lovers are invited to join Jessica Baldwin, curator at Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York, for a free guided tour of the museum's Revolutionary War paintings by John Ward Dunsmore on loan at the Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster. Tours will be available between 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 15.

The Jacobus Vanderveer House, a pre-Revolutionary home and historically important site located at 955 Route 202/206 South in Bedminster, is in the process of being restored as a living history museum by The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House. The Jacobus Vanderveer House holds many history related events each year, and has details on those activities as well as its background on the site's website.

Several of American painter John Ward Dunsmore's works are on loan from the Fraunces Tavern Museum at the Jacobus Vanderveer House, including a portrait of George Washington entitled "Portrait of General George Washington," said a news release from Renae Biale of Basking Ridge, who handles publicity for the Jacobus Vanderveer House.

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The painting of Washington was recently conserved thanks to support from Chubb Personal Insurance and The James F. Hurley Insurance Agency, the release said. According to Baldwin, this is the first time the portrait has been exhibited to the public in more than twenty years.

Dunsmore (1856-1945) was a late 19th century and early 20th century American painter best known for his realistic and historically accurate paintings of the events surrounding the American Revolution and Early Republic, the release said.

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Dunsmore placed tremendous importance on realism, creating paintings as realistic as photographs, the release said. His Revolutionary War images are iconic and widely sought for reproduction in items ranging from children’s textbooks to the Library of Congress’s website, to a special coin produced by the U.S. Mint. Since 1936, Fraunces Tavern Museum has owned the world's largest collection of Dunsmore paintings, the release said.

The schedule for the free tours are:

1 to 2 p.m. — Self-guided tours of the Jacobus Vanderveer House with docents available to answer questions and provide information.

2 to 3 p.m. — Tour of John Ward Dunsmore paintings led by Fraunces Tavern Museum curator Jessica Baldwin

3 to 4 p.m. — questions and discussion

For more information and to register, call 908-212-7000, ext. 611.  For directions and information about the Jacobus Vanderveer House, visit the Jacobus Vanderveer website.


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