The Last Moments of Tom Coffin

Inscriptions

Signed and dated, lower left: TS [in monogram] 1824; inscribed, on mount, lower center: "The last moments of Tom Coffin" Designed from Coopers novel of the "Pilot". Presented by Thos. Sully / to his friend J. Neagle. 1827; inscribed, by Neagle, on mount lower left: (NB [in monogram]. The above is written by Mr. Sully)

Label

This dramatic scene, based on James Fenimore Cooper’s Romantic 1823 novel The Pilot, highlights humankind’s impotence in the face of nature’s might. Thomas Sully’s wash drawing illustrates the last moments of the American schooner Ariel and its coxswain, Tom Coffin, who has just saved the captain’s life. The Nantucket whaler looks resolutely up toward heaven, having chosen to stay with the remains of the ship until both are consumed by the sea.

From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

ENGL 29, American Fiction to 1900, Colleen Boggs, Spring 2014

ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022

GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022

Exhibition History

American Works on Paper to 1950: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Friends and Owen Robertson Cheatham Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 22-December 9, 2007.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 2-November 1, 2009.

Marks of Distinction: Two Hundred Years of American Drawings and Watercolors from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 29-May 29, 2005; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 24-September 11, 2005; National Academy Museum, New York City, New York, October 20-December 31, 2005.

This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–April 18, 2022.

Publication History

Barbara J. MacAdam, Marks of Distinction: Two Hundred Years of American Drawings and Watercolors from the Hood Museum of Art, Manchester, Vermont: Hudson Hills Press, 2005, pp. 19, 41, 60, 251, ill. p. 61, no. 4.

Provenance

The artist; to John Neagle (1796-1865), 1827; by descent to Neagle's Great-granddaughter, Mrs. E.H. Brodhead Jr.; Sotheby's Arcade Auction, New York, New York, "American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture," March 25, 1997, lot 108A; to Spanierman Gallery, LLC, New York, New York; sold to present collection, 1999.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects