His Excel: G: WASHINGTON Esq: L.L.D. Late Commander in Chief of the ARMIES of the U.S. of AMERICA & PRESIDENT of the CONVENTION of 1787.

• Price: SOLD
  

  SKU: 80919

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• ARTIST: Charles Willson Peale

• MEDIUM: Mezzotint,

  DATE: 1787

• EDITION SIZE: Image size oval 5 x 6" (12.7 x 15.3 cm).

• DESCRIPTION: Painted & Engraved by C. W. Peale. 1787. 3rd state with the addition of "& President of the Convention of 1787" added to the title. <BR><BR> The portrait mezzotint was made by Peale for inclusion in a series of portraits of illustrious personages of the Revolutionary War. Each print was to be priced at $1 or $3 framed which at the time this was a considerable amount of money. The first portrait was of Benjamin Franklin. Peale had Washington sit for this portrait on July 3, 6, and 9th, 1787. This image was advertised as being ready for sale in two weeks in the August 20, 1787, edition of the Pennsylvania Packet, but it was delayed until September 26. This print did not sell well and prices were reduced to the point that Peale lost money. The entire project was then abandoned. This likeness of Washington is considered to be one of the great lifetime portraits of him and likely one of the finest and most accurate renditions of our greatest founding father produced. <BR><BR> Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) is best remembered as a painter of portraits and specifically for his monumental portraits of George Washington and other Revolutionary War era figures. He was born in Chester, Maryland. His career as a portrait painter began after his training to be a saddle maker. Peale studied under John Hesselius and John Singleton Copley before going to England to study with Benjamin West. When he returned to America, he settled in Annapolis. He taught his younger brother, James Peale, how to paint launching his career. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he moved to Philadelphia, then the Nation’s Capital and began painting famous dignitaries of the day. He served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolutionary War and for a while after the war in the Pennsylvania State Assembly. <BR><BR> Charles Wilson Peale was married three times and had eighteen children. His first wife, Rachel Brewer Peale (1744-1790), had eleven children, several of whom also became noted painters while others became naturalists and one a museum director. Raphael Peale, and Rembrandt Peale are the most notable artists of his children.

• ADDITIONAL INFO:

• CONDITION: Very good condition. Backed on period paper.

• REFERENCE: Wick 21; Hart 3a & 3b; Fowble 199; Stauffer 2429; Baker #1.

• CATEGORIES: 18th-19th Century Subjects , Portraits , George Washington