Rembrandt Peale

Although known as a member of one of America's most famous artistic families, only recently has Rembrandt Peale emerged from the group as an individual who virtually embodied the industrious, experimental, yet above all fickle age of capitalism in which he lived. Seeking imaginative means by which to weave the production and appreciation of art into the fabric of the American democratic enterprise, working in many of America's growing cities, and founding a museum to foster national taste, Rembrandt Peale forged a career for himself characterized as much by failure as success. But, whereas such fits and starts were once considered reason to overlook him, the persistence with which he met them is now thought by one scholar to be the quality that makes him quintessentially American. Raised in the long shadows of his accomplished artist-father, Charles Willson Peale (1741 - 1827), and the heroes and statesmen whose portraits lined the walls of his father's gallery, Peale was, in a sense, surrounded by the achievements of past masters. The challenge to distinguish himself as an artist was compounded by a lack of public interest in the arts, his poor business skills, and his desire to depart from the well-trodden path of portrait painting. However, it was as a portraitist that Peale was able to support his large family and combine his high-minded, nationalist ideals with an art that appealed to a large audience.

Rembrandt Peale Images:
Thomas Jefferson