Rash's Surname Index


Notes for Rembrandt PEALE

PEALE, Rembrandt, artist, was born in Bucks county, Pa., Feb. 22, 1778; son of Charles Willson Peale (q.v.). He early developed artistic talent; removed to Charleston, S.C., in 1796, and in 1801 studied painting in London under Benjamin West. He returned in 1803 on account of ill health, and immediately gained popularity in Philadelphia as a portrait painter. He visited Paris in 1807 and 1809 to study art in the Louvre, painting several portraits of distinguished Frenchmen for his father's museum, and in 1810 again established himself in Philadelphia. He painted in New York, Boston and Baltimore, 1810-29; visited France and Italy, 1829-30, England in 1832, and in 1833 opened a studio in London and exhibited in the Royal academy. He was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1805; an original member of the National Academy of Design, New York city, and upon his removal to Philadelphia was elected an honorary member in 1827. He was a skilful lithographer, being one of the first to draw on stone, and was awarded a silver medal by the Franklin Institute for a lithographic portrait of Washington in 1827. His most noted portrait was that of Washington, begun in 1795, completed in 1823, exhibited in Rome, Florence and London and finally purchased by the U.S. senate. Among his other portraits are: Baron Cuvier, Bernardin de Saint Pierre, Jean Antoine Houdon, Thomas [p.242] Jefferson, Mrs. James Madison, Thomas Sully, Oliver H. Perry, Ranmohun Roy, G.W. Bethune, William Bainbridge, Joseph Priestly, General Armstrong and Stephen Decatur. His figure compositions include: Napoleon on Horseback; Babes in the Wood; Errina; Song of the Shirt; Jupiter and Io; Wine and Cake; Lyseppa on the Rock; Roman Daughter; An Italian Peasant; Ascent of Elijah, and Court of Death. He lectured on "Washington and His Portraits" in several of the larger cities of the Union, and edited the Portfolio of an Artist (1839). He is the author of: An Account of the Skeleton of the Mammoth (1802); Historical Disquisition on the Mammoth (1803); Notes on Italy (1831); Graphics (1841); Reminiscences of Art and Artists (1845), and translations contributed to the Crayon and other publications. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 3, 1860.
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