Charles Willson Peale

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827)

Charles Willson Peale was one of the first American-born painters to achieve distinction he was a patriot, inventor, artist, museum administrator, and scientist. The eldest son of a country schoolmaster, Peale was apprenticed to a saddler at the age of twelve. At twenty-one he married and opened his own shop in Annapolis, Virginia, conducting business as a saddler and harness maker and later also as an upholsterer, silversmith, and watch and clock repairer. In his autobiography, Peale said he tried his hand at painting after seeing some poor examples of portraits on a leather-buying trip to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1762. He developed his skill by reading instructional manuals and by painting portraits of friends and relatives. In 1763 added sign painting to his many other trades.

During his early career, Peale probably had little intention of becoming a professional portraitist. Yet his intense curiosity and interest in developing new skills led him to seek local painters. He took a few lessons from John Hesselius, who was living nearby in Annapolis. In 1765 business debts and revolutionary activities forced Peale to leave Maryland temporarily. He accompanied his brother-in-law, Captain Robert Polk, on a voyage to New England. In Boston he visited the studio of the British painter John Smibert and met John Singleton Copley. In spring 1766 Peale proceeded homeward, where he finally settled his debts. Soon after a group of friends and benefactors arranged for him to travel to London to learn to paint professionally. He studied at the studio of Benjamin West in London from 1767 to 1769. Upon his return to the United States, he set up a successful portrait business, first in Annapolis and later, in 1776, in Philadelphia. He soon became one of the pre-eminent painters in the colonies.

Peale successfully pursued various professions through his life. In 1786 he established a museum in Philadelphia, which contained a gallery of portraits of American and European leaders as well as a wide collection of animal specimens. He established the Columbianum, or American Academy of the Fine Arts, the predecessor of the present-day Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which held its first exhibition in 1795. After 1810 he divided his time between administrative duties at his museum and at his estate, Belfield, where he did experimental farming. Married three times, Peale had sixteen children, many of whom became artists. With his younger brother James and their children, he founded a dynasty of accomplished American portraitists and still-life painters.

“New England Merchant”, ca. 1765

Oil on canvas, 18 x 15 in. (45.7 x 38.1 cm)

Signed (on right side of letter): “C.W. Peale Pinxt”

Charles F. Smith Fund (1971.6)

This portrait of a merchant was most likely executed during Peale's trip to New England in 1765, when he earned a meager income painting portraits and signs. On one occasion, finding himself out of money, "He thought of selling his watch, which he did to a Hatter for £5 taking a hat in part payment. Before this money was expended he got a small portrait to paint, for which he received 12 dollars and he now determined to leave Boston while he had the means." (1) “New England Merchant”, one of Peale's earliest portraits, is thought to be that painting, (2) a conjecture supported by the picture's provenance, which traces the work to a Boston family.

Peale's composition is a standard type: his merchant is depicted in a small room, leaning on a desk and holding a letter in his left hand. The quill, inkwell, and papers on the desk are references to the sitters' occupation. The small seascape visible through the open window is entirely appropriate for a Boston merchant, who would conduct much of his business through shipping. The letter is a commonly used device to record the identity of the sitter, whose name usually appears on the paper. The words on this letter are, unfortunately, illegible, and thus the man’s identity remains unknown.

Peale's early portraits, especially those painted during his trip to New England, are similar in size and composition and reveal his limited exposure to painting. While dark in color and somewhat crudely drawn, they clearly imitate the styles and poses of portraits by colonial painters John Wollaston, John Hesselius, and John Smibert and the British portraits they imitated. The pose of the New England merchant, for instance, is strikingly similar to that of William Johnston's “Charles Caldwell” (1763; NBMAA), a resemblance that is undoubtedly due to a shared print source.

At this early stage, Peale's almost complete dependence upon established portrait styles is obvious, though not at all surprising, considering his training. Yet Peale's skills were already far superior to those of many of his contemporaries. “New England Merchant” includes some suggestion of depth and three-dimensionality and hints at an understanding of the description of shape, form, and modeling. The painting is very dark, making the objects in the background difficult to distinguish. The darkness is enlivened, however, by the orange and yellow of the sunset seascape seen through the window and by the green baize-covered table, the gold trim on the black curtain, and the bright red string tying the bundle of papers.

MAS

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

James Thomas Flexner, “America's Old Masters: First Artists of the New World” (New York: Viking Press, 1939); Charles Coleman Sellers, “The Artist of the Revolution: The Early Life of Charles Willson Peale” (Hebron, Conn.: Feather and Good, 1939); Charles Coleman Sellers, “Charles Willson Peale, Later Life” (1790-1827), 2 vols. (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1947); Charles Coleman Sellers, “Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale”, part 1, “Transactions of the American Philosophical Society” n.s., 42 (1952); Edgar P. Richardson, Brooke Hindle, and Lillian B. Miller, “Charles Willson Peale and His World” (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1983); Charles Willson Peale, “The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family”, ed. Lillian B. Miller, Sidney Hart, and David C. Ward, 4 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983-91).

Notes:

1. Sellers, Artist of the Revolution, p. 64.

2. Charles Coleman Sellers to Robert C. Vose Jr., November 14, 197