If you have ever wanted to stitch a piece of American history rather than a bowl of fruit, this is the painter to know. Jean Leon Gerome Ferris built his whole career around telling the country's story in paint, and those scenes translate beautifully to fabric.
He was born in 1863 and died in 1930, an American who worked in history painting and Orientalism and who studied under William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The thing that matters most about him is the project he gave his life to: The Pageant of a Nation, seventy-eight scenes from American history, the largest series of its kind ever painted by one artist. That is not a man dabbling. That is decades of research, costume, and staging poured into one long undertaking, and you can feel that seriousness in the finished paintings.
I have four of his scenes charted, and I will be honest with you about them. All four sit at Level 5 - Big League, which is the deep end of what I offer. The Landing of William Penn and Washington's Inauguration at Philadelphia are crowded canvases full of faces, and the color changes come thick and fast in the clothing. Building the Cradle of Liberty asks the same of you. The Christmas Coach is the one people reach for first, and it is still a serious commitment. These are counted cross stitch patterns for someone with hours to give, worked on 18-count Aida and framed as wall art when you are done. After 22 years of charting historical cross stitch, I can tell you these reward slow, steady evenings more than they reward speed.
If you take to his work, go straight to Jean-Leon Gerome, the painter he was influenced by and named for, working in the same history and Orientalist territory across twelve of my charts. Then there is William Adolphe Bouguereau, the man he studied under, with ninety-four patterns waiting for you. Ferris also drew on Christian Schussele, another history painter, which tells you something about the company he kept and the kind of picture he wanted to make.
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