pdf - Schwarz Gallery

The portraits of Herman Henry Schroeder and Susannah Schwartz Schroeder were painted in either 1793 or 1794, while
Polk was a resident of Baltimore. The artist presents a youthful couple, active in that community—a successful merchant
and his wife. Polk’s basic stylistic elements are clearly seen in the beauty and charm of these works. The sitters’ images are
unified as a pair by poses, palette, details of costume, props, and setting. Their poses in both portraits are specifically Polk’s
own—the figures pulled up close to the canvas, seated comfortably before the painter, relaxed but still cordially formal. It
is not known whether these portraits were executed in the artist’s studio, in a rented space, or at Wandsbeck, the home of
the sitters. In any of these settings, Polk could have provided the furnishings for a portrait setting: chairs and tables, drapes,
and a platform. The fact that similar chairs appear in other portraits suggests that they were part of the artist’s studio
equipment. What is not usual for Polk, however, is the absence of background props such as draperies or architectural
elements, suggesting that the Schroeders may have been painted in a studio set up by Polk in a rented space. Their bodies
are positioned to form echoing brackets: she turns right toward him and he turns left toward her. All visual elements seem
to have been selected to complement or contrast each sitter with or to the other: her salmon-colored gown to his green coat,
her round table to his square-cornered table, her rosebud and book to his letter and hand-held chart. Each figure is seen
against the same simple gray background of empty but luminous space.
After thus unifying them as a couple Polk focuses attention on each figure. Susannah is placed at her husband’s right hand,
historically a position of matrimonial subservience. She is attired in female finery, with an elaborate bonnet of cascading,
sheer white fabric edged with ribbons and festooned with bows. Her youth, evident in her facial features, is complemented
by the dark ringlets on her shoulders and the expanse of neck and firm bosom above a plunging neckline, barely kept modest
by a white fichu pulled down and restrained by a bow almost at her ribbon-enwrapped waist. Those white v-forms lead the
viewer’s eye to her hands, demurely resting in a lap of sprigged, salmon-colored fabric. The quietness of her hands
accentuates the delicate rosebud held between her left forefinger and thumb. Brought to nearly equal prominence by the
direction of those v-forms is her gold-banded finger. The budding flower and wedding band not only symbolize her
youthfulness and state of matrimony but suggest her fertility.
Susannah Schwartz Schroeder’s ties to Herman Henry Schroeder are symbolically reinforced by more than the gold band.
Their linkage is suggested visually by a number of coy elements painted by Polk, such as the repetition of the rosebud
embroidered or printed again and again in the patterning of her gown. Sprig after sprig arches, embroidered or printed leaf
and stem forms recalling buds and leaves, all colored the same hue of green as in her husband’s coat.
In his portrait Herman Henry Schroeder sits upright, declaring his masculinity in the greater rigidity and strength of his pose.
As with Susannah, the depiction of his clothing is filled with a wealth of specific details that not only declare his position in
their relationship but also visually unify his image. The green of his coat is echoed in the delightful detail of the stitching on
his yellow vest, which is set off against the white ruffles of the shirt and lace-edged jabot tied in a bow at his neck.
Polk has carefully observed and recorded Schroeder’s distinctive facial features of high cheekbones, arched eyebrows, and
long, thin nose above a small mouth. Clearly, Schroeder was as fashion conscious in his dress as he was reputed to have been