Conover Family Portraits Featured in New Exhibit
Come visit a new exhibition at MCHA spotlighting 19th century portraits of the Conovers, an early influential family of Monmouth County. "A Family Reunited: The Conover Portraits" features artwork that has not been exhibited together for over 100 years, when the collection was divided among family members. The exhibit will remain on view through January 2019.
MCHA assembled the works on display from private collectors, descendants of the Conover family, and the Association's permanent collection. At the heart of the exhibit are seven portraits of Tunis V. Conover of Marlboro, his wife Rebecca Crawford Conover, and their three children Hendrik S., Anne B., and William I. Conover. They range in date from 1819 to 1855. Artists represented include New Jersey painters Micah Williams and Harvey Jenkins as well as Connecticut artist George Henry Durrie. The exhibition also offers the unique opportunity to compare three depictions of a single individual at different stages of life portrayed by three different artists utilizing their individual vision and techniques. Rebecca Conover sat for her first portrait in pastel by Micah Williams in 1819 at age seven, then for Durrie at age thirty and then Jenkins at forty-five years of age in 1855.
The display of portraits is augmented by a nineteenth century painting of the family residence in Marlboro, and a pictorial sampler worked by young Rebecca Crawford Conover in 1824.
A presence in Monmouth County for over 300 years, Conover ancestors were among the earliest Dutch settlers, arriving in what is now New York around 1630 and taking up residence in Monmouth County in the late 17th century. By many accounts staunch Patriots during the Revolutionary War, the family seemed to be known for successful farming and both community and church leadership.
"A Family Reunited: The Conover Portraits" will be open from November 2 through January 2019 at the Monmouth County Historical Association Museum, 70 Court Street, Freehold.