1816-1837: The American Experience

When Vanderlyn returned to America in 1815, his confidence and optimism echoed that of a nation that had emerged victorious from its war with England. In 1816, Vanderlyn opened his first American exhibition in New York. In it, he exhibited Ariadne , the relocated paintings of Marius and Antiope , portraits of Monroe and President Madison, and copies of paintings by the masters. This show, which traveled to several large cities, brought Vanderlyn more notoriety than fame, for the chaste American public was not prepared for the art of the nude. Such was American prudery that separate viewings were arranged for men and women. Vanderlyn had clearly lost touch with the American moralistic view of art; he had been away in France too long.

Madame Gallibran Garcia Oil on canvas. 1815

Undaunted by the public's reaction to his exhibition, Vanderlyn conceived of yet another plan to establish his reputation. He would show the works he had brought from Europe along with exhibitions of panoramic pictures, the viewing of which was a popular recreation among Europeans. Remembering Fulton's success in Paris, Vanderlyn banked on a reliable income from the panoramas, hoping to turn his attention to painting historical canvases. With this in mind, he settled in New York, began renewing his acquaintance with influential Americans, and campaigned for the financial support to erect a suitable building in which to display his panorama. The response was overwhelming, and when the grant for a nine-year lease from the Common Council for a lot in City Hall Park was approved, the Rotunda was constructed.

Vanderlyn intended to open the building in September of 1818 with his own panorama, View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles , for which he had made sketches as early as 1814. Unable, however, to complete the 169-foot circular canvas in time, he spent most of the summer in Kingston working on the painting and opened the Rotunda with another artist's panorama. His work was installed the following June and, although well-received by the press, did not draw the crowds Vanderlyn had counted on. Unlike later, more successful artists such as Frederick Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt, Vanderlyn had little talent for business and self-promotion. The profits for the Rotunda's first year were only $1,240. The painting of the panorama itself had cost $2,000 and Vanderlyn was still $4,000 in debt for the building. Unable to keep his creditors at bay any longer, Vanderlyn was forced to sign a declaration of bankruptcy.

For the next two decades, Vanderlyn suffered numerous disappointments, many through his own shortcomings. He often left his nephew and namesake, John Vanderlyn, Jr., only a teen at the time, in charge of his business affairs. The child, who at age eleven had been sent for from Kingston by Vanderlyn to study art, was more often than not burdened with the responsibilities of installation and exhibition of the panoramas. It was, in fact, the artist's very unwillingness to commit himself to the commercial aspects of the exhibitions, combined with his endless travels from city to city in search of new places to stage his panoramas, the details of which he often entrusted to those with little experience or competence, that led to his financial failure.

He fought long and hard to retain control of the Rotunda, which, in accordance with the lease agreement, reverted back to the City of New York. Vanderlyn's attempts to recoup his losses met with additional failure. His canvases were not understood by Americans for whom the only known painting tradition had been portraiture. Embittered, Vanderlyn was forced again and again to seek commissions for portraits.

(Next: 1838-1846: Final Trip to Paris).