James Peale

1822

Charles Willson Peale American, 1741-1827

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

In this affectionate portrait, Charles Willson Peale represents his younger brother, James Peale, as a man of virtue who had accepted and fulfilled his responsibilities as an individual, a parent, and a citizen. On the table to James’s left, the paintbrush and small palette symbolize his career as a successful artist. The portrait miniature he holds was painted by his daughter Anna Claypoole Peale, who was one of the first two women admitted to the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Anna’s miniature suggests his success as a parent who raised his child to be a productive member of society. The medal hanging on a blue ribbon on his jacket identifies him as a member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Named in honor of the Roman General Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the organization included men who had served their country during the American Revolution as officers in the Continental Army.

Title James Peale

Artwork Date 1822

Artist Charles Willson Peale

Life Dates 1741-1827

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Framed: 35 1/8 × 43 7/8 × 4 inches (89.2 × 111.4 × 10.2 cm) Unframed: 24 1/2 × 36 inches (62.2 × 91.4 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase with funds from Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 50.58

Markings

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Provenance

Peale's Museum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA);
October 6, 1854, sold by (M.Thomas & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), auction of holdings from Peale's Museum, lot 88, purchased for $55 by Anna Claypoole Peale. The name of the purchaser is recorded in an annotated copy of the auction catalogue at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Anna Claypoole Peale [1791-1878] (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA).
Augustin Runyon Peale, Jr. [1848-1910] (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA);
Herbert Raphaelle Peale;
Adele Peale Conway
1950, dealer, Edward A. Newman (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA);
1950-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Sellers, Charles Coleman. "Charles Willson Peale." The American Philosophical Society 2 (1947): p. 352.

Richardson, Edgar P. The Art Quarterly 13, 4 (1950): p. 348 (ill.).

________________. "A Portait of James Peale, the Miniature Painter (The Lamplight Portrait), by Charles Willson Peale." Bulletin of the DIA 30, 1 (1950-51): pp. 8-11.

Sellers, Charles Coleman. "Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 42, 1 (1952): p. 166.

Paintings by the Peale Family. Exh. cat., The Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, 1954, no. 31.

Pennsylvania Painters. Exh. cat., The Mineral Industries Gallery. University Park, PA, 1955, no. 8.

Let Thee By Light. Exh. cat., The Wadsworth Atheneum. Hartford, 1965, no. 214.

Elam, Charles H., ed. The Peale Family: Three Generations of American Artists. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1967, no. 7.

____________________. Charles Willson Peale: A Biography. New York, 1969, p. 403.

Flexner, James Thomas. The Light of Distant Skies: American Painting, 1760-1835. New York, 1969, pp. 104-105. [reprint]

Cummings, Frederick J., and Charles H. Elam, eds. DIA Illustrated Handbook. Detroit, 1971, p. 134.

Sesquicentennial Exhibition, Part 1. Exh. cat., The Cummer Gallery. Jacksonville, FL, 1972, no. 10.

Wilmerding, John, ed. The Genius of American Painting. London, 1973, pp. 94, 95.

Rivard, Nancy. "American Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts." Antiques 114 (November 1978): p.

1044.

Charles Willson Peale and His World. Exh. cat., The National Portrait Gallery. Washington, D.C., 1983, pp. 99-100, 104, no. 74.

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 192-193 (ill.).

Miller, Lillian B. "In the Shadow of His Father: Rembrandt Peale, Charles Willson Peale, and the American Portrait Tradition." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 110, 1 (January 1986): p. 44 (fig. 26).

Shaw, Nancy Rivard, et. al. American Paintings in the Detroit Institute of Arts, Vol. 1: Works by Artists Born Before 1816. New York, 1991, cat. 67, pp. 152-154. (col. ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Charles Willson Peale, James Peale, 1822, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from Dexter M. Ferry, Jr., 50.58.