Self-Portrait with Five Muses

About the Artwork

Lifelong Chagrin Falls resident Church is considered one of the great self-taught artists of 19th-century America. A painter, sculptor, and musician by passion, he offered his appearance and enthusiasms in this highly imaginative self-portrait, surrounding himself with a squadron of miniature winged muses. These figures represent not only the traditional arts of painting, sculpture, and music, but also Church's profession of blacksmithing (identified as a crowned figure holding a hammer and anvil). A savvy entrepreneur, Church launched the first commercial art gallery in northeast Ohio: Church's Art Museum, at Geauga Lake, in 1888. Its inventory consisted entirely of his own work.

Inscriptions

Inscribed lower right: H. Church. Ptr

Provenance

The artist; Jessie Church Sargent (the artist's daughter), Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rosenberg, New York (1937); Private Collection by descent; [Washburn Gallery, New York, (2012)]

Exhibition history

Transformations in Cleveland Art, 1796-1946. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 19-July 21, 1996). Artlens Exhibition 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24, 2017-May 29, 2019). Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (June 12-September 5, 2021); Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (October 7, 2021-January 2, 2022); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (February 19-May 15, 2022).

Quick Overview

Artist: Henry Church (American, 1836–1908)
Date: c. 1880
Medium: oil on paper mounted to board
Dimensions: Unframed: 73.3 x 59.7 cm (28 7/8 x 23 1/2 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: American Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Delia E. Holden Fund
Accession no.: 2012.30

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.