Portrait of a Gentleman
1817
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)
Accession Number
2020.20.234
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of early 19th-century America with *Portrait of a Gentleman* by James Peale, in 1817. James Peale, a prominent member of the influential Peale family of artists—brother to the famed Charles Willson Peale a master of portraiture during the Federal period. This oil painting captures the poised dignity of its unidentified male subject, reflecting the era's emphasis on personal status and civic virtue in a young republic still defining its identity after the War of 1812. Peale's style exemplifies the refined realism of American portrait painting, blending European infl...
About the Artist
James Peale
James Peale was an American painter born in 1749, the younger brother of the more famous Charles Willson Peale, and a member of one of the most remarkable artistic families in the history of American art. Trained largely by his brother, James worked for many years in Charles Willson's shadow, assisting with portraits and miniatures in the Philadelphia studio before developing his own independent p...