THOMAS JEFFERSON
1743 - 1826
Third President of the United States.
Principle Author of the Declaration of
Independence.
Oil on canvas (unfinished), 24 x 18".  2012
Artist commentary:  "Where would we be
without Thomas Jefferson, who wrote what has
been called our American creed?  The Declaration
of Independence.
'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...'
 
Two-hundred and thirty six years later we are
still here.  Still the greatest nation on earth.  And
still at the root of our greatness lies Jefferson's
words.  Regarding those original words of our
Declaration of Independence, historian Joseph
Ellis once said,
'It essentially says that inside each of us, inside
me inside you, there is this kernel or core of
something sacred.  Something that cannot be
violated, that cannot be coerced or tampered
with by the state, by the government, by
institutions of any sort.  And that is our
essence, and that essence is extremely powerful
if we can protect that essence and allow it to
voluntarily express itself into the world.  It's
the single most powerful force in human
history.'
But of those who are given much, it has been said,
much is expected.  Jefferson knew who '
we the
people
' truly were intended to be back then from
our Creator's point of view, and two-hundred and
thirty six years later, this artist has come to believe,
that our Creator's original point of view of who
'we the people'  truly are remains the same today.  
I am currently finishing this portrait of Thomas
Jefferson working primarily from an oil portrait
that Rembrandt Peale painted of Jefferson from
life, a likeness that Jefferson himself is said to have
particularly favored during his lifetime."
Artist's collection.
©McVaugh  All rights reserved
E.  "M I K E"   M c V A U G H
P o r t r a i t  A r t i s t
<RETURN TO ARTIST'S HOME PAGE
Oil on canvas