Self Portrait c. 1795
purchase by the Independant National Park
by the Friends of Independant Park in 1979
Self Portrait c. 1795
purchase by the Independant National Park
by the Friends of Independant Park in 1979
Charles Willson Peale was a well-known American portrait artist. He was born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, and as a young man was an apprentice to a saddler. He taught himself to paint by emulating artists such as John Hesselius. Peale did much traveling in his lifetime and gained popularity for his paintings. Some of his work (besides Port Baltimore Surveyor Daniel Delozier and General Ortho Holland Williams) include portraits of: Washington, Lafayette and Tilghman at Yorktown, William Pitt, William Paca, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Ben Franklin. Below are some of the paintings by Peale. To read further on the life and legacy of Charles Willson Peale, you may click here.
Below are several of the more famous portraits painted by Peale. Later in his life he painted works such as The Exhumation of the Mastodon (exhibited in The Peale Museum, Baltimore) and the Maryland State House in 1789.
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George Washington, ca. 1779–81 Oil on canvas 95 x 61 3/4 in. (241.3 x 156.8 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art |
George Washington, 1787 Oil on canvas 24 x 19 1/8 in. (61 x 48.6 cm.) Bequest of Mrs. Sarah Harrison (The Joseph Harrison, Jr. Collection) Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts |
Washington as Colonel of the Virginia Regiment, 1772 Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia |
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| Thomas Jefferson, 1791, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.8 cm), Independence National Historical Park, National Park Service, Philadelphia |
Alexander Hamilton, purchased by the City of Philadelphia at the 1854 Peale Museum Sale
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John Paul Jones, purchased by the City of Philadelphia at the 1854 Peale Museum Sale |
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| General Otho Holland Williams, Listed in the 1795 Peale Museum catalog. Purchased by the City of Philadelphia at the 1854 Peale Museum sale.This is the General who worked side-by-side Daniel Delozier, Surveyor Port Baltimore. | Daniel Delozier, Surveyor, Port Baltimore 1788 Canvas, 36x27 Half length. Yellow hair. Blue eyes. Very dark coat. Buff waistcoat with brass buttons. Black chair. Background very dark olive green painting. The painting is now owned by Richard H. Randall, Baltimore descendant |
If you are interested in learning more on Peale and his work, a simple web search will bring you a great many leads. Charles Willson Peale had several children, some of which went on to become great artists in their own right. Two more of Peale's portraits are below:
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John Adams |
Benjamin & Eleanor Ridgely Laming, Oil Painting |
To return to the Delozier Geneology web site, click here.