- Artist
- Henry Church (American, 1836–1908)
- Medium
- Oil on paper mounted to board
- Size
- Unframed: 73.3 x 59.7 cm (28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- United States, Ohio, Cleveland
- Rights
- CC0 — no rights reserved
Lifelong Chagrin Falls resident Church is considered one of the great self-taught artists of 19th-century America. A painter, sculptor, and musician by passion, he offered his appearance and enthusiasms in this highly imaginative self-portrait, surrounding himself with a squadron of miniature winged muses. These figures represent not only the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and music, but also Church's profession of blacksmithing (identified as a crowned figure holding a hammer and anvil). A savvy entrepreneur, Church launched the first commercial art gallery in northeast Ohio: Church's Art Museum, at Geauga Lake, in 1888. Its inventory consisted entirely of his own work.
