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John Stevens

John Stevens
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Sitter
John Stevens, 1749 - 6 Mar 1838
Date
c. 1830
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 92.1 x 74.3 x 2.5cm (36 1/4 x 29 1/4 x 1")
Frame: 118.7 x 100.3 x 12.1cm (46 3/4 x 39 1/2 x 4 3/4")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Home Furnishings\Drape
John Stevens: Male
John Stevens: Science and Technology\Inventor
John Stevens: Science and Technology\Engineer\Mechanical engineer
John Stevens: Science and Technology\Navigator\Ship\Steamship
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of H.H. Walker Lewis in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin A.S. Lewis
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.75.13
Exhibition Label
Born New York City
Revolutionary War colonel John Stevens, trained in the law and self-educated as an engineer, was a pioneer in steam-engine experimentation. In 1804, his small steamboat, Little Juliana, operated by twin-screw propellers, made a successful trip across the Hudson River and back to the New Jersey shore. Three years later, Stevens built the paddle steamer Phoenix, the first steam engine fully built in the United States. In 1809, he circumvented a monopoly on steam navigation rights on the Hudson by sending the Phoenix to Philadelphia by sea—making it the first steam-powered vessel to complete an ocean voyage. Thereafter, he ran a commercial steamboat ferry line between Philadelphia and Trenton.
In 1825, Stevens designed the first U.S.-built steam locomotive. He operated it, at the rate of over twelve miles per hour, on a circular track at his Hoboken estate to demonstrate the feasibility of replacing horses with steam-powered railroad transportation.
Nacido en la Ciudad de Nueva York
John Stevens, coronel de la Guerra de Independencia, educado en leyes e ingeniero autodidacto, fue uno de los primeros que experimentaron con máquinas de vapor. En 1804 su pequeño vapor Little Julianna, propulsado por dos hélices, cruzó exitosamente el río Hudson de ida y vuelta a Nueva Jersey. Tres años más tarde construyó el vapor de ruedas Phoenix, primero producido totalmente en Estados Unidos. En 1809, para evadir un monopolio sobre los derechos de navegación a vapor por el río Hudson, envió el Phoenix a Filadelfia por mar, con lo que este fue el primer barco de vapor que realizó un viaje marítimo. A partir de entonces, Stevens tuvo una línea comercial de vapores entre Filadelfia y Trenton.
En 1825, Stevens diseñó la primera locomotora de vapor construida en EE.UU. La conducía, a poco más de 12 millas por hora, sobre una vía circular en su propiedad de Hoboken para demostrar que era viable remplazar a los caballos con transporte ferroviario de vapor.
Provenance
H. H. Walker Lewis, Baltimore [1904-1999, descendant]; gift 1975 NPG
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 132