Christian Gullager was an artist specializing in portraits and theatrical scenery

Theatrical scenery

Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated...

 in the late 18th century; he worked in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, New York, and Philadelphia. Born in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In America, portrait subjects included president George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

. He designed scenery for Boston's Federal Street Theatre

Federal Street Theatre

The Federal Street Theatre , also known as the Boston Theatre, was located at the corner of Federal and Franklin streets in Boston, Massachusetts. It was "the first building erected purposely for theatrical entertainments in the town of Boston."-History:The original building was designed by Charles...

.

Gullager created portraits of:

• Joseph Ball
• Captain Offin Boardman, about 1787
• Benjamin Greenleaf Boardman, about 1787
• Sarah Greenleaf Boardman (Mrs. Offin Boardman) ca.1787
• Reverend Eli Forbes
• John May (1748–1812), 1789
• David Plumer
• Mary Sargent Plumer (Mrs. David Plumer)
• Elizabeth Sewall Salisbury (Mrs. Samuel Salisbury), 1789
• Martha Saunders Salisbury (Mrs. Nicholas Salisbury), 1789
• Stephen Salisbury, 1789
• Daniel Waldo (1724–1808), 1789
• Rebecca Salisbury Waldo (Mrs. Daniel Waldo), 1789
• George Washington
  George Washington
  George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
  
  , 1789
• Abigail Leonard West (1796–1879), c. 1796
• David West, Jr. (1790–1825), c. 1796
• David West, Sr. (1765–1810), c. 1796
• Jeremiah Williams, ca.1780
• Mathilda Davis Williams, ca.1791

Further reading

• Christian Gullager, 1759–1826, Worcester Art Museum, June 18–September 6, 1949.
• Christian Gullager: Portrait Painter to Federal America, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., April 23–September 20, 1976.

External links

• Historic New England. Gullager's portrait of Reverend Eli Forbes.