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John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor
Artist
John Wesley Jarvis, 1780 - 14 Jan 1840
Sitter
John Jacob Astor, 17 Jul 1763 - 29 Mar 1848
Date
c. 1825
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Other: 76.2 x 61.6cm (30 x 24 1/4")
Frame: 94.6 x 81.9 x 10.2cm (37 1/4 x 32 1/4 x 4")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Settee
John Jacob Astor: Male
John Jacob Astor: Natural Resource Occupations\Explorer
John Jacob Astor: Business and Finance\Banking and Finance\Financier
John Jacob Astor: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Merchant\Trader\Fur trader
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Susan Mary Alsop
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.78.204
Exhibition Label
Born Waldorf, Germany
John Jacob Astor arrived in the United States as a poor immigrant in 1783 but went on to become one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs. He made his first fortune in the fur trade in the Great Lakes region, shipping the furs, particularly beaver, to Europe. In 1811 he sent two expeditions to Oregon and founded the first American settlement on the Pacific coast, Astoria.
After the War of 1812 (1812–15) and the British departure from the Northwest Territory, Astor’s American Fur Company established a trading post on Mackinac Island, in present-day Michigan, which became the center of the booming fur trade. Astor increased his fortune through trade with China and the accumulation of New York real estate, becoming the wealthiest man in the United States in the 1830s. “It’s all a matter of habit,” he said, “and good habits in America make any man rich.”
John Wesley Jarvis (1780–1840)
Nacido en Waldorf, Alemania
John Jacob Astor llegó a Estados Unidos como inmigrante pobre en 1783, pero pasó a ser uno de los empresarios más exitosos del país. Hizo su primera fortuna en la región de los Grandes Lagos exportando pieles, sobre todo de castor, a Europa. En 1811 envió dos expediciones a Oregón y fundó Astoria, primer asentamiento estadounidense en la costa del Pacífico.
Tras la Guerra de 1812 (1812–15) y la salida de los británicos del Territorio Noroeste, la American Fur Company de Astor estableció un puesto comercial en la isla Mackinac, en el actual Michigan, que se convirtió en centro del creciente mercado de pieles. Astor aumentó su fortuna mediante tratos con China y bienes raíces en Nueva York, convirtiéndose en el hombre más rico del país en la década de 1830. “Todo es cuestión de hábito”, dijo, “y en América los buenos hábitos hacen rico a cualquiera”.
Provenance
Susan Mary Alsop, Washington, D.C.; gift 1978 to NPG
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 132