The Glory of America Early American Art

4’11”x7’ National Gallery of Art, Ottawa Death of General Wolf, 1770 Benjamin West 4’11”x7’ National Gallery of Art, Ottawa

35 1/8 x 28 1/2 in, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Paul Revere, 1768-1770 John Singleton Copley 35 1/8 x 28 1/2 in, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Copley’s only finished portrait of an artisan shown at work. An idealized image of the artisan at work – casual clothing but a pristine “work” area. The reason for the commission of this portrait and the identification of the client who paid for it remain mysteries. “Paul Revere” did not become a public image during the Revolution or in its aftermath. The Copley portrait remained in the Revere family after the sitter’s death in 1818, apparently relegated to an attic because it was “too informal”.

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 6′ 0″ x 7′ 6″ Watson and the Shark, 1778 National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 6′ 0″ x 7′ 6″ Patronage for portraits had slowed. Copley experimented with different kinds of paintings. Watson asked Copley to paint an event from his early life. Took a real event and turned it into history painting. Themes – horrible tragedy, salvation, triumph

Watson and the Shark – The Story Watson was orphaned at the age of 6 and sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Boston, Massachusetts. Before the age of 14, Watson had expressed his interest in the sea, so his uncle signed him up as a crew member on one of his merchant ships. While swimming alone in Havana harbor in 1749, the 14-year-old Watson was attacked by a shark. The shark attacked twice before Watson was rescued. The first time, the shark removed flesh from below the calf of Watson’s right leg; the second time, it bit off his right foot at the ankle. Watson was rescued by his shipmates, but his leg had to be amputated below the knee. Watson recuperated in a Cuban hospital and recovered within three months. As an adult he became a successful merchant and politician.

The Declaration of Independence John Trumbull 1795 12’x18’ United States Capitol Bldg The painting features the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence— John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson (presenting the document), and Benjamin Franklin — standing before John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress.

Charles Willson Peale Born – April 15, 1741 in Chester, MD Died - February 22, 1827 Was an apprentice to a saddle maker when he was thirteen. Upon reaching maturity, he opened his own saddle shop; however, when his Loyalist creditors discovered he had joined the Sons of Liberty, they conspired to bankrupt his business. Finding that he had a talent for painting, especially portraiture, Peale studied for a time under John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West. He raised troops for the War and eventually gained the rank of captain in the Pennsylvania militia by 1776. He did portraits of many historic figures (Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton) but is he is probably best known for his portraits of Washington. Peale produced close to 60 portraits of Washington. In January 2005, a full-length portrait of Washington at Princeton, from 1779, sold for $21.3 million, setting a record for the highest price paid for an American portrait. Peale had a great interest in natural history and founded what became the Philadelphia Museum, later known as Peale's American Museum, the first museum of the United States. It housed a diverse collection of botanical, biological, and archaeological specimens. Most notably, the museum contained a large variety of birds which Peale himself acquired, and in many instances mounted, having taught himself taxidermy. Peale had 3 wives total – he had 16 children between his 1st two wives!

Staircase Group, 1795 Charles Willson Peale Philadelphia Museum of Art Example of “trompe l'oeil” painting

Charles Willson Peale 1806 49 x 61½” Exhuming The Mastodon, Charles Willson Peale 1806 49 x 61½”

Exhuming the Mastodon Peale invented the device that removed the water from the pit. Clear social hierarchies. Genre painting, history painting, self and group portraiture.

George Washington, 1796 Gilbert Stuart National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston His best known work, the unfinished portrait of George Washington, sometimes referred to as The Athenaeum, was begun in 1796 and never finished. Stuart kept the portrait and used it to paint 130 copies which he sold for $100 each. The image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for over a century, and on various U.S. Postage stamps of the 19th century and early 20th century.

1819 25 1/8 x 35 3/4 in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Moonlit Landscape Washington Allston 1819 25 1/8 x 35 3/4 in Museum of Fine Arts, Boston