Painter
Steward was a largely self-taught artist, although he may have studied with Jonathan Trumbull in the fall of 1792, during Trumbull's brief residency in Hartford. Steward is known to have been painting portraiture on a regular basis by 1788. He did not, however, always paint from life. There are many examples of him copying other works.
In 1793 he was commissioned by Dartmouth College to create full length portraits of John Phillips, a soon-to-be retired member of the college’s board, and Eleazar Wheelock, the school’s founder. The portraits were not completed until August 1796. This was his largest and best documented commission. That same year, he opened a “Painting Room" in the State House. The Connecticut General Assembly had given him permission to use a room in the newly completed capitol’s third floor as a painting studio.
Few of his works appear to be extant or available for public viewing, and many of those are only tentatively identified as his, based on style.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Steward
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