The Art Of the Peales in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Adaptations and Innovations

2017·2642.97 MB·English

by  Carol Eaton Soltis

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Myrin Trust and an anonymous donor, the Mamout (see plate 3.78) was offered for sale.
Museum purchased Charles’s five elegant, high- Charles had painted this elderly Guinean former
style colonial portraits of the John Cadwalader slave and storied resident of Washington, DC, for
family from their descendants. the collection of his Philadelphia museum and left
Several fine and characteristic examples of behind significant commentary on the picture and
the portraiture of James Peale and his nephew his interaction with the sitter. Almost two centu-
Rembrandt have been donated to the collection ries later, the Philadelphia Museum of Art provides
over the years. Notable among these are James’s a rich artistic context for this painting alongside
Mrs. Nathaniel Waples and Her Daughter, Sarah Ann Charles’s other portraits of the late teens and early
(see plate 3.61), given in 1950 by a descendant of 1820s, including his Self-Portrait in the Museum of
the sitters, and Rembrandt’s dynamic James McCrea 1822 (see plate 3.79). The acquisition of Yarrow
The Art of the Peales
(see plate 3.65), a gift of The Muriel and Philip Mamout presented a considerable financial challenge,
Berman Foundation in 2017. The couple had long but a group of generous donors rose to the occasion
been generous supporters of the Museum, and and it was purchased with the support of R. Wistar
Mr. Berman served as its board chair from 1989 Harvey, Mrs. T. Charlton Henry, Mr. and Mrs. J.
until his death in 1997.16 Stogdell Stokes, Elise Robinson Paumgarten, Lucie
Robert L. McNeil, Jr., had been a strong sup- Washington Mitcheson, R. Nelson Buckley, the
porter of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and estate of Rictavia Schiff, and the McNeil Acquisition
a member of its board for four decades in 2007, Fund for American Art and Material Culture.
when his promised gift of the McNeil Americana It is our sincere hope that the Peale collection
Collection transformed the Museum’s small but at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will be an ongo-
distinguished holdings of works by the Peale fam- ing inspiration and resource for the study of this
ily into a large but focused collection. The McNeil remarkable family, their art, their times, and their
Americana Collection also includes exceptional society, and that the collection itself will act as a
examples of American decorative arts, works on magnet to attract further significant works by these
paper, miniatures, and oil paintings by other artists artists to the Museum.
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but Mr.
McNeil’s particular interest in the Peales has pro-
vided the Museum with a broad spectrum of their
work and raised the number of Peale artists repre-
sented to fifteen.17
In particular, the McNeil gift has significantly
expanded the number of Peale oil portraits and
miniatures and added rare prints and drawings.
It has established a significant collection of Peale
family still-life pictures, where previously there
were none, and includes masterworks in this genre
by Raphaelle and James, as well as landscapes by
Charles, James, and Titian. A unique aspect of the
collection is the large number of family portraits
painted by the Peales of themselves and of one
another. At present it contains twenty-two such
portraits, the most recent acquisition being a minia-
ture by Charles of his sister, Elizabeth Digby Peale
Polk (see plate 1.1), a piece we believe Mr. McNeil
would have admired and which we were able to
acquire through the Center for American Art Fund
that he established.18
In 2011 a significant opportunity arose when
Charles Willson Peale’s 1819 portrait of Yarrow
introduction
6
small and ambitious, and of one gift of exceptional became part of Harrison’s notable private collec-
breadth and importance. The contributions of tion. Inherited by his widow, it was later purchased
these many benefactors are acknowledged in the from her estate sale by a member of the Peale family,
captions for the works illustrated throughout this Jessie Sellers Colton (1855–1932). She bequeathed
book. The following is a brief overview of the col- it to her son, Harold Sellers Colton (1881–1970),
lection’s genesis and some notable milestones in who lent it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in
its growth. 1933. Once again The Staircase Group became a pub-
Rembrandt Peale’s Bust of Washington, Colossal lic picture. The Museum’s decision to purchase the
Profile after Houdon (see plate 5.5), painted in 1857, painting in 1945, with funds from its George W.
was the first picture by a Peale family artist to enter Elkins Collection, staked a claim for the importance
the Museum’s collection. It was purchased from of American art within the institution’s overall
the artist’s estate sale in 1862 by the businessman collection.15 An enormously popular picture, it has
William P. Wilstach (c. 1816–1870), whose suc- enjoyed both national and international visibility. In
cess had enabled him to retire at age forty-eight it Charles showcased his technical skill and artistic
and devote himself to amassing an art collection sophistication by representing his sons on a staircase
with his wife, Anna.13 After Mrs. Wilstach’s death in what would shortly become Philadelphia’s first
in 1892 the collection, along with an endowment internationally known museum. The painting is part
to maintain and expand it, was bequeathed to the of the history of the city, as well as the history of
City of Philadelphia. Initially housed in Memorial American art, and it unites viewers across the cen-
Hall, which was built as a gallery for the Centennial turies through their shared response to its trompe
Exhibition of 1876 and administered by the city’s l’oeil illusionism.
Fairmount Park Commission, it was relocated Phebe Warren McKean Downs’s 1968 bequest
in 1928 to the newly constructed Philadelphia of the family portraits Chief Justice Thomas McKean
Museum of Art. By this time Rembrandt Peale’s and His Son, Thomas McKean, Jr. and Mrs. Thomas
Boy in a Red Jacket (see plate 3.68), painted in 1845 McKean (Sarah Armitage) and Her Daughter, Maria
and donated to the Wilstach Collection in 1918, Louisa (see plates 2.7, 2.8) brought another aspect
was also part of the collection. The other Peale of Charles Willson Peale’s oeuvre into the collec-
acquisition that pre-dated the move into the present tion. These impressive paired portraits of the mid-
Museum building was James Peale’s miniature of 1780s are notable for their political iconography
John Ozeas (see plates 3.11a,b), which was part of and the historical importance of their sitters (see
the Ozeas, Ramborger, Keehmle Collection that also chapter 2). That same year, a quite different large-
had been housed in Memorial Hall.14 scale portrait pair by a Peale family artist also
No other works by the Peales entered the entered the collection. The work of Charles’s
Museum’s collection until the 1930s, when two nephew, Charles Peale Polk, the portraits Mrs. John
miniature portraits, one by James and the other Hart and Her Son and Mr. John Hart (see plates
by his daughter Anna Claypoole Peale (see plates 3.48, 3.49) arrived as part of the collection of Edgar
3.21, 3.24), were given by two different donors. In William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, which
1935 an oil portrait of Cornelia Mandeville (see focused on works in the American folk art tradi-
plate 3.63) was donated as part of a larger group of tion. In marked contrast to the elder Charles’s
objects but remained unattributed for decades prior detailed and naturalistic portraits, whose composi-
to being recognized as a work by another of James’s tions are elegantly crafted with flowing outlines
daughters, Sarah Miriam Peale. and modulated color, Polk’s relatively abstract por-
In 1945 a more intentional addition to the traits of the Harts represent a more idiosyncratic
collection occurred when the Museum decided to and vernacular artistic style.
purchase Charles Willson Peale’s Staircase Group. These were joined in 1977 by Charles Willson
This picture had been part of Philadelphia’s cul- Peale’s compelling Mrs. Peale Lamenting the Death
tural landscape from its creation in 1795 until of Her Child (Rachel Weeping), which entered the
1854, when it was purchased by the engineer and Museum as a gift from trustee Robert L. McNeil,
inventor Joseph Harrison, Jr. (1810–1874) at the Jr., through his Barra Foundation. In 1980 and
auction of the Peale’s Museum painting gallery and 1983, with funds contributed by the Mabel Pew
introduction
5
personal financial difficulty. This was the case, for Thomas Sully, this gallery consistently presented
example, with Raphaelle, Margaretta, and Anna individual works on speculation and occasionally
Claypoole Peale (Mrs. William Staughton), the mounted special exhibitions such as Rembrandt
latter after she was widowed. In 1830, the year Peale’s Italian Pictures (1831), which included
prior to his death, James Peale listed three pictures twenty-seven canvases, most of them copies after
for sale.3 Rembrandt Peale offered his art to the old masters he had recently painted in Italy.11
public from his Philadelphia painting room and Commercial galleries and dealers also served
later through his own galleries in Philadelphia and the interests of artists of more modest artistic
Baltimore. But during his long life, his extensive stature than James, Raphaelle, and Rembrandt
exhibition record at PAFA listed only two works Peale. Some quietly facilitated the sale of work by
for sale, both in 1852.4 However, in 1862, two years female artists such as Harriet Cany Peale, the tal-
The Art of the Peales
after his death, the Academy allowed his financially ented student and wife of Rembrandt Peale, and
strained widow to arrange a special exhibition that Margaretta Peale, who, unlike her sisters Anna
included the entire contents of the artist’s studio, Claypoole and Sarah Miriam Peale, did not main-
which were then auctioned on site by M. Thomas tain a public profile in the professional art world.
in the philadelphia museum of art
and Sons of Philadelphia.5 Despite their training and love of art, neither Mary
During his lifetime Rembrandt exhibited fif- Jane Peale nor her cousin Anna Sellers, the daugh-
teen portraits, a copy after Raphael’s Madonna della ter of Sophonisba and Coleman Sellers, promoted adaptations and innovations
Seggiola, and a landscape titled The Cascade of Tivoli or sought public recognition of their work. These
at New York’s American Academy of the Fine Arts, women painted largely for their immediate social
but none of these were listed for sale. Since only circle. In her diary, for example, Mary Jane docu-
a few had designated lenders, it may be that some ments requests for commissions from family and
were discreetly available for purchase. However, friends that kept her well occupied. Their work
the deceased James Peale’s seven still-life pictures represents an alternative market that fed the desire
Carol Eaton Soltis
exhibited at the same venue in 1838 and 1839 were of these painters and their patrons to make art
offered at thirty-five dollars each. Three still lifes part of their lives. Understanding how this cottage
by Raphaelle, also deceased, were likewise for sale, industry existed in tandem with the professional art
one without a price and the others for thirty and world expands our knowledge of the quantity and
thirty-five dollars.6 Rembrandt also exhibited at types of art being produced in nineteenth-century
New York’s National Academy of Design beginning America. Mary Jane, in particular, warrants further
in 1826, but none of his works exhibited there were study. Even though she chose not to become a pro-
ever specifically listed for sale.7 The exhibitions held fessional artist, her diary reveals her deep interest
at Rubens’s museums in Baltimore and New York in the contemporary art world.12 The domestic
presented works by the Peales and other artists for market she served dovetailed easily with the art dis-
display and purchase.8 By contrast, Charles Willson plays annexed to large non-art-related public events
Peale’s museum in Philadelphia does not appear to such as the Saint Louis Annual Fair, to which her
have engaged in the sale of art. aunt Sarah Miriam also began to contribute small
The participation of Rembrandt, Raphaelle, still-life pictures in 1856, and Philadelphia’s Great
James, Anna Claypoole, and Sarah Miriam Peale in Central Fair of 1864, where pictures by both Anna
the 1828 exhibition of the Boston Athenaeum is and Mary Jane were offered for sale to aid sick and
discussed in chapter 4. The role of art brokers such wounded Civil War soldiers.
as Baltimore’s William Harris Jones, who organized
this first annual exhibition for the Athenaeum, The Evolution of the
deserves more research. Such individuals clearly
helped to develop the art market and establish Peale Collection
connections between artistic communities—in
this case, those of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Peale col-
philadelphia museum of art
Boston.9 The role of commercial galleries such lection, like the Museum itself, is a collection of
as Philadelphia’s Sully and Earle also merits fur- collections. Its present configuration is the result
ther exploration.10 Co-founded by the portraitist of a steady stream of donations, of purchases both
introduction
4
edly shaped the direction of this later work. Belfield, conceived as a public benefit and hoped would earn
the Germantown farmstead where he lived and him the respect and recognition he tirelessly sought
established an impressive botanical pleasure gar- throughout his life.
den between 1810 and 1820, was an extension of
his museum into the real world. His well-known Tools and Subjects for
view Belfield Garden (see plate 4.5) documents this
endeavor, which undoubtedly provided fruits and Further Research
Support for this publication was generously provided by vegetables for many of the splendid still-life pic-
Robert L. McNeil, Jr., and tures of Raphaelle and James. In recent decades the Peale family’s endeavors in
The Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 
The concluding chapter, “Family Traditions,” art, natural science, and the world of museums
Produced by the Publishing Department explores how the personal and the professional have generated a wide-ranging and intellectually
Philadelphia Museum of Art intersected in the later career of Rembrandt Peale. distinguished body of scholarship that reaches
2525 Pennsylvania Avenue
Building on the tradition of George Washington into numerous aspects of late eighteenth- and
Philadelphia, PA 19130-2440 USA
portraiture initiated by his father, Charles, and nineteenth-century American art, history, society,
www.philamuseum.org
continued by other family members, Rembrandt and material culture. Many of these sources are
Edited by David Updike developed a series of conceptualized portraits of documented in the extensive endnotes to the chap-
Production by Richard Bonk
Washington in the 1820s, 1840s, and 1850s. By ters in this volume, which also contain additional
Design by Katy Homans
exhibiting and promoting these works, Rembrandt information on the works and artists discussed. The
Printed in Spain by Brizzolis, Madrid
Bound in Spain by Encuadernación Ramos, Madrid sought recognition for his own pictures while Selected Bibliography focuses on the publications
asserting the primary role his father’s earlier most useful for further research on the Peales and
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
Washington portraits played in the visual represen- the subjects considered here. An illustrated online
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system
tation of this national hero. He also addressed issues checklist, accessible through the Museum’s website,
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright law and except by reviewers for the public press),
without permission in writing from the publisher. of importance to his father through his 1820 exhibi- is also planned to accompany The Art of the Peales.
tion picture The Court of Death (see plate 5.7). This It will contain up-to-date exhibition and publication
Text and compilation © 2017 Philadelphia Museum of Art
enormously successful, twenty-three-foot-wide, records, provenance, and other information on the
multifigure canvas fulfilled Charles’s ambition that Peale works in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s
Front cover: Charles Willson Peale. The Staircase Group (Portrait of Raphaelle and Titian Ramsay Peale), 1795 (plate 2.16)
at least one of his sons would succeed in the genre collection, including the small group of pictures
Back cover: Rubens Peale. From Nature in the Garden, 1856 (plate 4.26) of history painting, which he considered the highest that constitute the Peale Study Collection.2
form of art. As a visual sermon conceived during a A collection catalogue is not intended to digress
Endpapers: Rembrandt Peale. Tints used Apr. 15, 1833, London in the Portrait of Mrs. E. Smith (details).
period of intense religious revival and social reform, on subjects not directly connected to the objects
Oil and pen and ink on paper. Peale-Sellers Family Collection, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia
Rembrandt’s painting also reflected Charles’s belief being discussed, but inevitably it touches on areas
Frontispiece: Raphaelle Peale. Peaches Covered by a Handkerchief, 1819 (detail of plate 4.15) that an individual’s “salvation” could be assured that could prove fruitful for further research. In
by refraining from behaviors that destroyed one’s examining the art of the Peales it has become clear
ISBN 978-0-87633-277-1 (PMA)
health and peace of mind. Rembrandt enlisted sev- that this united yet diverse group of artists offers a
ISBN 978-0-300-22936-3 (Yale)
eral family members to pose for this picture, whose microcosm of the ways in which art was marketed,
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949284 cast of characters symbolized the stark dichotomies promoted, and displayed in antebellum America. A
of sin and virtue. Placed at the center was Charles, closer look at the different strategies they used to
Photography Credits
as the figure of “virtuous old Age,” undaunted and establish their reputations, enhance their visibility,
Works from the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were photographed by
Will Brown, Timothy Tiebout, Jason Wierzbicki, Graydon Wood, and Joseph Wu. submitting to Death with equanimity. It was an and sell or otherwise distribute their art may yield a
All other photographs were supplied by the owners. appropriate choice in light of the Peale family patri- richer understanding of the era’s artistic landscape.
Figs. 1.9, 1.15 © The Trustees of the British Museum
arch’s oft-repeated advice and admonitions to family Charles Willson Peale was a founder of the
Fig. 1.13, The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
members, as well as the general public, about how Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
to live an honorable, respectable, and heathy life. and he and his family were frequent participants in
Charles’s ideals had been shaped by the its annual exhibitions, which proved an important
Enlightenment belief that human beings and venue for showcasing their work and attracting
the world they inhabit could be understood and commissions. The role of America’s early art insti-
improved. It was in this spirit that he continued, tutions as venues for the direct sale of art, however,
until his death in 1827 (two months before his is often overlooked. Like other artists, members
eighty-sixth birthday), to attempt to guide his fam- of the Peale family occasionally listed their works
ily and secure the future of his museum, which he for sale at these exhibitions, especially in times of
introduction
3
relocated his family from Maryland to Philadelphia, designed to create these accurate, inexpensive
and the second in 1795—were designed to engage likenesses. Expertly operated by Moses Williams,
the viewer rather than to be passively admired. Peale’s recently manumitted slave, it became a
Mrs. Peale Lamenting the Death of Her Child major attraction that profited both Williams and
(Rachel Weeping) was first displayed in Charles’s the museum, while making the acquisition of a por-
Contents
Philadelphia painting room and then featured in the trait, albeit a small one, a more populist activity. A
newly renovated gallery he opened in December selection of Peale family portraits, cut by Williams,
1782.1 The Staircase Group remained a noted feature are part of the collection (see plates 3.41, 3.42).
of Peale’s Museum from 1795 until the museum was Still life, landscape, and images related to the
Foreword
dismantled in 1848. study of natural science are the subjects of chap-
timothy rub
The third chapter, “The Varieties of ter 4, “ ‘The Wonderful Works of Nature.’ ” Peale’s
vi
Portraiture,” examines portrait types created by Museum was one of Philadelphia’s earliest cultural
ten different family members in several media. institutions and Charles designed its installations,
Acknowledgments
These include Charles’s early George Washington demonstrations, and lectures dedicated to the
vii
portraiture, as well as the simply formatted oil natural world to enlighten and delight the gen-
portraits of Revolutionary notables he created for eral public. But it also served as a serious edu-
Introduction
his portrait gallery and later his museum. Over the cational resource, gaining the attention of the
1
years this group grew to include scientists and oth- international scientific community. Its specimens
ers he deemed noteworthy for their contributions were organized according to the classification
A Note to the Reader
to society. Modestly scaled portraits conceived in system created by the noted eighteenth-century
7
this straightforward manner gained popularity Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, after whom
with private patrons in the years following the Peale named a son. chapter 1 Family Dynamics: The Early Life and Career of Charles Willson Peale
Revolution, and the Peales received commissions for Charles’s son Titian Ramsay Peale II applied
9
many such works. Charles famously instructed his his artistic skills to his pursuit of natural science,
siblings and children in the art of portraiture, but participating in expeditions to record the flora and chapter 2 The Grand Manner at Home
influences within the Peale family did not always fauna of North America and beyond. In the pro-
35
follow the traditional course of an elder teaching a cess, he provided drawings and prints for study and
younger artist. Charles’s later artistic development, display at Peale’s Museum. Titian’s stepbrother chapter 3 The Varieties of Portraiture
for example, was significantly influenced by his Raphaelle and uncle James, by contrast, engaged
101
son Rembrandt, a master technician who painted with the imagery of nature by brilliantly adapting
powerful and realistic portraits in oil. Rembrandt’s and reinventing traditional European still life for chapter 4 “The Wonderful Works of Nature”
methods also helped shape the portraiture of his an American audience. Exceptional examples of
203
cousin Sarah Miriam and niece Mary Jane, both of the work of these first American masters of the
whom are represented in the Philadelphia Museum genre are among the highlights of the Philadelphia chapter 5 Family Traditions
of Art collection. Museum of Art’s collection of American art. Still-
253
The Peales’ expertise in miniature painting is life pictures by James’s daughters Sarah Miriam
particularly well represented here through works and Margaretta Peale, their cousin Rubens, and
Notes
by Charles, his brother James, and their children, Rubens’s daughter Mary Jane also appear in this
270
Raphaelle and Anna Claypoole Peale, respectively. section. Formally indebted to the paintings of
This tradition extended into the twentieth century Raphaelle and James, their work was an homage to
Selected Bibliography
with the miniaturist Rebecca Burd Peale Patterson, their admired predecessors.
319
Rubens Peale’s granddaughter (see plate 3.32). During their later years Charles and James
Charles’s mastery of printmaking is also discussed shared an interest in depicting nature through land-
Selected Genealogy of the Peale Family
here (as well as in chapters 1 and 4), as is his skill scape paintings. Their pictures differ significantly
328
in rendering elegant profile drawings such as the in character, with Charles’s being studied records
marriage portraits of his daughter Sophonisba of nature while James’s are more expressive, imag-
Index
and her husband, Coleman Sellers (see plates 3.39, inative works. Charles’s long-term dedication to
330
3.40). Cut-paper profiles, also known as silhouettes, creating realistic imagery, as well as his years of
were introduced to Peale’s Museum in 1802 when crafting detailed, scientifically accurate landscape
Charles installed a “physiognotrace,” a machine backgrounds for his museum specimens, undoubt-
introduction
2
Foreword Introduction
Works by the Peale family—Charles Willson Peale, Of the numerous donors who helped build
his brother James, and their many progeny—hold a our Peale family holdings through gifts or the The ArT of The PeAles examines America’s This catalogue is divided into five chapters that
prominent place in the collection of the Philad el phia contribution of funds for purchase, perhaps no first artistic dynasty through the Philadelphia aim to situate the works discussed within the con-
Museum of Art. Given the leading role that they individual was more generous than the late Robert Museum of Art’s collection of more than 150 text of the Peale family’s production, as well as in
played in this city’s artistic and intellectual life in the L. McNeil, Jr., whose passion for Philadelphia and works by the Peale family. Now the largest and the time and place of their creation. Composed as
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this its history was reflected both in the focus of his most diverse array of paintings, prints, and draw- a narrative rather than a series of separate entries,
should come as no surprise. If, as the painter Gilbert activities as a collector and in the philanthropic ings by the Peales in any museum, the collection the text weaves the lives and works of these artists
Stuart once observed, Philadelphia was the “Athens support he gave to many institutions in his native spans the early 1770s to the twentieth century. It together and foregrounds how the relationships
of America” in the decades after the Revolut ion, then city, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art. includes internationally known masterworks such among them shaped the art they created.
the Peale family’s contribution to its emergence as Most of the works by the Peales acquired in recent as Charles Willson Peale’s trompe l’oeil Staircase Chapter 1, “Family Dynamics,” outlines salient
the nation’s center of culture and commerce rep- years came to us as gifts from Mr. McNeil, who also Group of 1795 (see plate 2.17) as well as engaging events and experiences in Charles Willson Peale’s
resents a significant chapter in this fascinating story. generously agreed to provide funding for this pub- but lesser-known pictures such as his son Rubens early life, as he went from indentured saddler’s
The histories of Philadelphia and this family lication. Few have done more than Mr. McNeil to Peale’s bold and decorative From Nature in the apprentice to self-determining artisan. Adept at
were, indeed, closely intertwined; this is one of the advance the study of Philadelphia’s history and its Garden of 1856 (see plate 4.26). Collectively, the finding and making opportunities, he raised his
principal reasons why the Philadelphia Museum consequential role in the founding and development Peales painted for the full spectrum of patrons and social and economic prospects by securing the spon-
of Art is today the most important repository of of this country, and for this reason we will always tastes in the emerging American art market. Their sorship of the Maryland gentry to develop his artis-
the work of Charles Willson Peale and members of be grateful for his support. artistry encompassed many genres, ranging from tic talents in London. Lacking a positive role model
his extended family who followed in his path and It is a great pleasure to be able to acknowledge Charles’s large, ambitious canvases of elite patrons in his father, who died when Charles was nine, Peale
became successful artists in their own right. Among the many members of our staff whose efforts have painted in the European grand-manner tradition looked to his Maryland patron, Charles Carroll,
our holdings are his celebrated Staircase Group, a made this publication possible. Special thanks are to the intimate, jewel-like watercolor-on-ivory Barrister (see plate 1.2), and his teacher in Britain,
masterpiece of trompe l’oeil painting that has long due to Graydon Wood, the head of our Photography miniature portraits in which a number of the Peale the American-born painter Benjamin West, to help
been one of the most popular works in our collec- Department, and his staff; Mark Tucker, The artists excelled. Illusionism, naturalism, idealiza- shape the values and ambitions that would define
tion; Mrs. Peale Lamenting the Death of Her Child Neubauer Family Director of Conservation, and the tion, abstraction, and the many stylistic nuances in his career, and which he, in turn, would transmit to
(Rachel Weeping), his moving depiction of his wife several members of his staff who have treated paint- between all find a place. his family. This section also explores specific artis-
mourning the death of their daughter Margaret; ings by the Peale family in our collection; and David The artists of the Peale family had distinct tic, theoretical, and political influences he assimi-
and the five portraits commissioned by a promi- Updike, the member of our Publishing Department styles, and the scope of this collection provides lated in London during his residence there between
nent Philadelphia family, the Cadwaladers, in 1770, who has overseen the development and editing of an opportunity to explore the dynamics of artis- 1767 and 1769.
shortly after Charles’s return from several years of The Art of the Peales. tic influence and illuminate how they responded The second chapter, “The Grand Manner at
study in London. Finally, I would like to express our deepest to one another’s work by selectively borrowing, Home,” discusses fourteen of Charles’s pictures
The Museum’s collection is also rich in the gratitude to Carol Soltis, Project Associate Curator adapting, or replicating forms, techniques, and conceived in the tradition of fashionable emblem-
several genres, such as portraiture and still-life in our Department of American Art and a spe- entire compositions. These interactions were atic portraiture he mastered in London. These
painting, in which the members of the family were cialist in the field of early American art. She has variously motivated by a desire to master artistic works, mostly large in scale, enabled him to fulfill
especially accomplished. Their oil portraits and devoted the past several years almost exclusively to skills, to assist a parent or sibling in completing the aspirations of the Maryland and Philadelphia
watercolor-on-ivory portrait miniatures provide researching works by the Peales in our collection commissions, or to derive financial benefit by gentry who became his first important patrons.
ample evidence of an important and abiding focus and to the preparation of this volume, which prom- meeting an established demand for a type of work Among them is the Museum’s unique ensemble of
of the Peales’ work and the rich set of relation- ises to be an exceptional contribution to the schol- made popular by another family member. In the five Cadwalader family portraits painted between
ships they enjoyed with patrons in and around arship on this subject. process, the Peales maintained their affinities to 1770 and 1772 (see plates 2.2–2.6). The chapter
Philadelphia. Their still-life paintings hold, likewise, one another while developing and asserting their also examines significant Peale family portraits
timothy rub
an important place in the history of American art, individual styles and areas of expertise. with emblematic content, including the paintings
The George D. Widener Director and
for it was the Peales—most especially Charles’s son familiarly known as Rachel Weeping (see plate 2.12)
Chief Executive Officer
Raphaelle—who first popularized this genre and and The Staircase Group. These two pictures—the
Charles Willson Peale. Mrs. Thomas McKean (Sarah Armitage) and
imbued it with a distinctively American character. Her Daughter, Maria Louisa (detail of plate 2.8) first completed in 1776, the year he permanently

vi 1
Acknowledgments
I owe many people a debt of gratitude for their were culled from the larger microfiche collection,
assistance in the creation of this book, but there is The Peale Family Papers, published in 1980, which
no one to whom I am more deeply indebted than included all Peale primary sources then located.
Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Not only did he thoughtfully Ultimately, Yale University Press issued the
assemble and then gift his Peale collection to the five-volume Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale
Philadelphia Museum of Art, he also made this and His Family. These volumes continue to be a
publication possible by providing the funds for its significant resource for all those engaged in the
production. Bob’s greatest historical interests were study of American art, society, and culture of the
largely concentrated within Charles Willson Peale’s late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
lifetime (1741–1827) and his important collections Bob and I remained in touch after I left the
of American prints, books, decorative arts, and Peale Family Papers and occasionally corresponded
paintings focused on this period. as he considered acquiring new works by a growing
I first met Bob in 1985 when he invited me number of Peale artists. When I returned to com-
to see his collection. The occasion was my first pleting my dissertation, under the direction of
foray into the art of the Peale family, Rembrandt Elizabeth Johns, Bob was interested in seeing it.
Peale, 1778–1860: A Life in the Arts, an exhibition Although it centered on the work of Rembrandt,
I curated at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania it also included detailed discussions of major Peale
(HSP). The Society owned important works by family works such as Charles Willson Peale’s The
Rembrandt, as well as significant primary sources Staircase Group (see plate 2.17 of this volume). As
for interpreting them, and I was eager to work Bob made plans for gifting significant parts of his
on this artist who had long been neglected. The personal collection of American fine and decorative
project had grown out of my initial dissertation arts to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the idea
research, funded by a Kress Foundation fellowship took shape for a publication that would encompass
and directed by the late John W. McCoubrey at the both his Peales and those already in the Museum’s
University of Pennsylvania. Seeing exceptional collection. When I joined the Museum’s curatorial
examples of the art of Charles Willson Peale and staff in 2004, it was with the idea that I would focus
his family in the context of a beautiful home that on the American collections but also be ready to
seamlessly accommodated them was, to say the work on the incoming Peales. The promised gift
least, an inspiration. of the McNeil Americana Collection was finalized
The Rembrandt Peale exhibition, its catalogue, in 2007, and the following year the McNeil minia-
and related projects led to an invitation from Lillian ture collection entered the Museum. Before his
Miller to join the Peale Family Papers at the National death in 2010, Bob approved the organization and
Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, outline of this book and the plan for an online
Washington, DC, where Bob had been a member of checklist for the Museum’s Peale collection. My
the advisory board since its inception. I remained regret is that he didn’t live to see it completed and
there for six years, establishing a catalogue raisonné that he is not here to quiz me with thoughtful ques-
of Rembrandt Peale’s works and co-curating the tions. My hope is that the McNeil family knows
1992 exhibition In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, that for me, having the opportunity to meet Bob
1778–1860. The Peale Family Papers, led by Dr. and work with his collection has been not just a
Miller, had the mission of publishing the correspon- pleasure but a great gift.
dence and other historic materials directly related to I would like to thank Bob’s daughter, Vicki
the life and work of Charles Willson Peale. These Le Vine, for taking an interest in this project and

vii
for always graciously facilitating access to the to Kathleen A. Foster, The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. as the book’s designer and David Updike as my by Emily Leischner, and completed by Lisa Morra.
parts of her father’s collection not yet at the Senior Curator of American Art and Director of the editor. Katy has done a beautiful job and Dave has I am indebted to all of them for their efficiency
Museum. I am also grateful to Susan Detweiler, Center for American Art, for their support of this been a kind, calm, but always discerning editor. and willingness to help. I would also like to thank
the McNeil family’s curator, whose consistently project and seeing it to completion. I also appreciate It has been a pleasure to work with Rich Bonk, Lucy Medrich, who as a Center for American Art
kind and conscientious assistance with a wide range the role of Yale University Press in promoting and who has supervised the book’s image quality Summer Fellow launched an extensive bibliography.
of tasks related to transferring the collection to the distributing the book. and production. I would also like to thank Sarah Thanks also to Cindy Veloric, who worked on for-
Museum and establishing files and information on This publication combines knowledge gained Noreika, Kathleen Krattenmaker, and our recently matting the bibliography, compiled the data for our
each work has been crucial to this project. I thank over a long period of time with fresh, recently arrived director of Publishing, Katie Reilly. The projected online checklist of the Peale collection,
her wholeheartedly. researched material, and many people have offered Department of Photography has done a remark- and assisted with research on portrait subjects and
Charles Coleman Sellers and his father, Horace assistance along the way. The impressive libraries able job of shooting, sometimes reshooting, and provenance. Most recently, I have been fortunate
Wells Sellers, the great-grandson of Charles of the HSP, the APS, and the Library Company of fine-tuning the images in this book, and my thanks to have the support of our department’s collections
Willson Peale, laid the foundation for the study Philadelphia have been major resources. Many of go to Graydon Wood, Joseph Wu, Tim Tiebout, assistant, Sophia Meyers, who has helped me bal-
of the Peales. Their diligence in safeguarding and the individuals associated with these institutions Jason Wierzbicki, and Justyna Badach. I would ance the demands involved in the final stages of the
organizing the family’s papers, which were given have been helpful in various ways, some becoming also like to acknowledge the fine photography by editorial process of this book with gallery installa-
to the American Philosophical Society (APS), fast friends. Among those who I remember fondly Will Brown included here. tions showcasing the work of the Peales. This year’s
made projects like the Peale Family Papers possi- or see frequently are Linda Stanley and Lee Arnold Members of the Museum’s Conservation Barra Fellow, Amy Torbert, has been a great help
ble. Charles Coleman Sellers’s 1952 catalogue of from the HSP; Beth Carroll-Horrocks, Martin Department have played a significant role as in planning our Peale scholars’ day.
the work of Charles Willson Peale, Portraits and Levitt, Roy Goodman, Valerie-Anne Lutz, Mary paintings by the Peales have entered the Museum. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my indebt-
Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale, and its 1969 Grace Wahl, Charles Greifenstein, and Merrill Paintings conservators Mark Tucker, Teresa edness to family members who have supported my
supplement, “Charles Willson Peale with Patron Mason from the APS; John Van Horne, Phil Lignelli, Lucia Bay, and Anne Schafer have been work over the years. These include my late mother,
and Populace,” remain valuable sources for docu- Lapsansky, Jim Green, Sarah Weatherwax, Erika called upon repeatedly to assess the condition of Doris E. Eaton, as well as Richard and Patricia
mentation of his art. Other family members have Piola, Jennifer Rosner, Richard Newman, Nicole pictures and determine possible treatments. Their Hevner and, most especially, my daughter Kristin
continued to remain interested in the lives and Joniac, Linda August, and, most especially, Connie attention to this time-consuming and delicate work Hevner Wyatt, who spent most of her childhood
accomplishments of their forebears. I have been King from the Library Company of Philadelphia. has helped me more fully understand the art of the surrounded by Peales. Last, but not least, I would
fortunate to meet the late Nicholas Sellers, his late The staff of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Peales. Mike Stone and now Chris Ferguson have like to thank my husband, Charles Soltis, for his
brother Peter, and Peter’s son Tim, all of whom Library and Archives has been consistently help- expertly conserved, prepared, and adapted frames patience and encouragement.
were extremely cordial and helpful despite their ful. Rick Sieber and Mary Wasserman both have as needed. Melissa Meighan, conservator of decora-
demanding professional lives. I have also had an exceptional ability and willingness to procure tive arts and sculpture, has been enormously helpful
the pleasure of conversations with James Peale, things from near and far, and I am also most appre- in deftly addressing issues of condition and display
a descendant of his namesake, who has placed ciative of the assistance I have received from archi- for miniature paintings. I also thank her colleagues
work by Raphaelle Peale on long-term loan to the vist Susan Anderson Laquer. Sally Malenka, Kate Cuffari, and Debra Breslin for
Museum. I am particularly grateful to Elise Peale An impressive amount of very fine scholarship stepping up to help. The expertise of paper con-
Patterson Gelpi, a lineal descendant of Charles on the Peales now exists, and I am indebted to the servators Nancy Ash and Scott Homolka has been
through his son Rubens and daughter-in-law Eliza, many scholars whose work is cited throughout this important and is greatly appreciated. The curatorial
for greatly adding to my knowledge of both her book. I would like to acknowledge a few individuals, assistance and knowledge of Innis Shoemaker, John
grandmother, the miniaturist Rebecca Burd Peale however, whose knowledge of the Peales has been Ittmann, and Shelley Langdale in the Department
Patterson, and her great-grand-aunt Mary Jane particularly important to me: Lance Humphries, of Prints and Photographs and Kristina Haugland
Peale, whose diary she and her late sister Pamela Linda Simmons, Bill Gerdts, Sid Hart, David Ward, in the Department of Costumes and Textiles also
Patterson Roach gifted to the APS, along with Ellen Miles, Brandon Fortune, the late Robert have been valuable.
other important materials related to Rubens. Elise Devlin Schwarz, Lauren Lessing, Elle Shushan, I am grateful for the support of my col-
also directly facilitated my research for this publi- Paul Schweizer, Anne Sue Hirshorn, Dorinda leagues in the Department of American Art, Bea
cation by sharing her copyrighted transcription of Evans, and Karie Diethorne. Garvan, Elisabeth Agro, Jessica Smith, Gina Lewis,
Mary Jane’s diary with me. The creation of a book of this type is a large Rosalie Hooper, and especially David Barquist
The Art of the Peales would not have been task, and it has been a privilege to work beside and Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, for their inter-
possible without the support of the Philadelphia the colleagues who have been responsible for its est and generosity in sharing their considerable
Museum of Art, and I am indebted to the Museum’s production here at the Museum. Special thanks go knowledge. My thanks also to Debbie Rebuck, the
former director, the late Anne d’Harnoncourt, for to Sherry Babbitt, our distinguished and recently Dietrich American Foundation Curator, for her
deeming it a worthy project. My sincerest thanks retired head of Publishing, for initially reading many favors. The task of obtaining the photogra-
go to Timothy Rub, the Museum’s George D. the manuscript and supporting the project. I also phy and rights for supporting images for this text
Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, and am indebted to her for suggesting Katy Homans was ably handled first by Quillan Rosen, continued
acknowledgments acknowledgments
viii ix
as the book’s designer and David Updike as my by Emily Leischner, and completed by Lisa Morra.
editor. Katy has done a beautiful job and Dave has I am indebted to all of them for their efficiency
been a kind, calm, but always discerning editor. and willingness to help. I would also like to thank
It has been a pleasure to work with Rich Bonk, Lucy Medrich, who as a Center for American Art
who has supervised the book’s image quality Summer Fellow launched an extensive bibliography.
and production. I would also like to thank Sarah Thanks also to Cindy Veloric, who worked on for-
Noreika, Kathleen Krattenmaker, and our recently matting the bibliography, compiled the data for our
arrived director of Publishing, Katie Reilly. The projected online checklist of the Peale collection,
Department of Photography has done a remark- and assisted with research on portrait subjects and
able job of shooting, sometimes reshooting, and provenance. Most recently, I have been fortunate
fine-tuning the images in this book, and my thanks to have the support of our department’s collections
go to Graydon Wood, Joseph Wu, Tim Tiebout, assistant, Sophia Meyers, who has helped me bal-
Jason Wierzbicki, and Justyna Badach. I would ance the demands involved in the final stages of the
also like to acknowledge the fine photography by editorial process of this book with gallery installa-
Will Brown included here. tions showcasing the work of the Peales. This year’s
Members of the Museum’s Conservation Barra Fellow, Amy Torbert, has been a great help
Department have played a significant role as in planning our Peale scholars’ day.
paintings by the Peales have entered the Museum. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my indebt-
Paintings conservators Mark Tucker, Teresa edness to family members who have supported my
Lignelli, Lucia Bay, and Anne Schafer have been work over the years. These include my late mother,
called upon repeatedly to assess the condition of Doris E. Eaton, as well as Richard and Patricia
pictures and determine possible treatments. Their Hevner and, most especially, my daughter Kristin
attention to this time-consuming and delicate work Hevner Wyatt, who spent most of her childhood
has helped me more fully understand the art of the surrounded by Peales. Last, but not least, I would
Peales. Mike Stone and now Chris Ferguson have like to thank my husband, Charles Soltis, for his
expertly conserved, prepared, and adapted frames patience and encouragement.
as needed. Melissa Meighan, conservator of decora-
tive arts and sculpture, has been enormously helpful
in deftly addressing issues of condition and display
for miniature paintings. I also thank her colleagues
Sally Malenka, Kate Cuffari, and Debra Breslin for
stepping up to help. The expertise of paper con-
servators Nancy Ash and Scott Homolka has been
important and is greatly appreciated. The curatorial
assistance and knowledge of Innis Shoemaker, John
Ittmann, and Shelley Langdale in the Department
of Prints and Photographs and Kristina Haugland
in the Department of Costumes and Textiles also
have been valuable.
I am grateful for the support of my col-
leagues in the Department of American Art, Bea
Garvan, Elisabeth Agro, Jessica Smith, Gina Lewis,
Rosalie Hooper, and especially David Barquist
and Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, for their inter-
est and generosity in sharing their considerable
knowledge. My thanks also to Debbie Rebuck, the
Dietrich American Foundation Curator, for her
many favors. The task of obtaining the photogra-
phy and rights for supporting images for this text
was ably handled first by Quillan Rosen, continued
acknowledgments
ix