Peale, Rembrandt, 1778?-1860

Rembrandt and Harriet Peale (née Cany) were painters; Philadelphia, Pa.

Peale, from a family of artists, was a portrait, miniature and historical painter.

Epithet: Artist and Author

Rembrandt Peale was a portrait and historical painter. He was the son of Charles Willson Peale.

Artist.

American painter.

Rembrandt Peale was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, into a famous family of painters. He taught himself to paint by copying his father's works and paintings from Philadelphia museums, and became an accomplished portrait artist, travelling throughout the fledgling United States. He later studied in England and France, which inspired larger, more ambitious paintings. He moved to Baltimore and opened a museum, but a lack of financial acumen forced him to sell the museum and seek more lucrative portrait commissions. He became an accomplished lithographer, and wrote several popular works on art instruction. A skilled, instinctively popular artist, Peale was also an idealist who sought to make art accessible to everyone.

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was a well-known portrait and historical painter in Philadelphia and Boston in the 19th century.

Rembrandt (1778-1860) and Harriet Peale (née Cany) (ca. 1800-1869) were painters in Philadelphia, Pa.

American portrait & historical painter.

American artist and painter.

American portrait painter.

Peale was one of the founding members of the National Academy of Design.

Rembrandt Peale was a portrait and historical painter.

Portrait painter; Philadelphia, Pa.

Portrait, miniature and historical painter; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Peale is the son of Charles Willson Peale.

Portrait, miniature and historical painter; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Peale is the son of Charles Willson Peale.

Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860) was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and was the second son of painter Charles Willson Peale. He was known primarily for his historical paintings and portraits, particularly those of George Washington. Peale painted his first Washington portrait in 1795 at the age of 17, in a sitting arranged by his father. From 1795-1800 he traveled in Maryland and the South painting portraits, and from 1801-1803 studied with Benjamin West in London.

Peale returned to Europe from l808 to l8l0, and spent most of his time in Paris where he was inspired to take up historical painting. From 1813-1822 he lived in Baltimore where, in 1814, he established a museum for paintings and natural history that later became known as the Peale Museum. Peale's most famous allegorical painting, Court of Death, was completed in 1820 and was one of the most popular paintings of the decade.

In 1822 Peale moved to New York City where he embarked on an attempt to paint what he hoped would become the "Standard likeness" of Washington. In the process he reviewed portraits by other artists including John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart and his father, as well as his own 1795 picture which had never truly satisfied him. His resulting Patriae Pater, completed in 1824, depicts Washington through an oval window, and is considered by many to be second only to Gilbert Stuart's iconic Athenaeum painting of the first president. Peale subsequently attempted to capitalise on the success of what quickly became known as his "Porthole" picture, collecting tesimonials praising the portrait from people who had known the president, and lobbying Congress, in vain, for a commission to paint an equestrian portrait of Washington. Despite his failure to gain such a commission, "Patriae Pater" was purchased by Congress in 1832 and still hangs in the U.S. Capitol.

Peale subsequently produced over 70 replicas of the "porthole" picture and in the late 1850s delivered a series of lecture entitled "Washington and his Portraits" along the East coast. He was also an accomplished writer and lecturer on natural history, and was among the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, a president of the American Academy, and a founder of the National Academy.