James Edward Kelly, born New York City - General Daniel Butterfield - ca. 1880-1900 - T-Shirt

A loose graphite sketch of a moustached man in an ordinary coat, turned to the right against a tan wash that fades into the paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

Graphite grey dominates the drawing, set against warm tan paper that makes up most of the sheet. The sitter's heavy moustache and firm features are built from a few decisive strokes, while the hair is picked out in darker, quicker marks above the ear. A soft, irregular vignette of tan wash frames the figure and dissolves into the paper at its edges. The body is left largely unresolved, so the eye settles on the face and bearing. The signature "Kelly" sits at the lower left, and "Genl. Butterfield" is written beneath the figure.

Meaning & Symbolism

The inscription names the sitter as General Daniel Butterfield, and the drawing shows him as a middle-aged officer in plain dress rather than uniform or battle setting. That choice puts the man ahead of his rank. James Edward Kelly (1855-1933) was an American artist and sculptor who drew many portraits of notable men of the late nineteenth century, often annotating them with names and titles as he did here. Sketches like this were made quickly from life, so the sheet records a single sitting and the character caught in it. It belongs to the broader tradition of American portrait drawing.

Cut for the Body

The vignette and the sitter's three-quarter turn suit a chest-front placement, where the figure can face out from the wearer. The tan field and the open, unfinished edges let the drawing sit easily on the soft, plain body of the tee, so the sketch reads as a direct, unhurried record of one man, as Kelly intended.