Women Artists Out of the Shadows

If asked to name famous artists, most of us can reel off a number of them: Rembrandt, Picasso, Giotto, Degas, Vermeer, Michaelangelo, Warhol. But how about some women artists? A few perhaps: Georgia O’Keeffe, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo. This spring and summer, Hammond-Harwood House, 19 Maryland Avenue in Annapolis, hosts an exhibition of seven early American female artists. The show of 22 works is called “In the Shadows of a Legacy: The Peale Women Painters.” These artists were in the shadow of the family legacy cast by their well-known fathers, cousins, and uncles – the men of the Charles Willson Peale clan. Like many other female artists throughout history, they received less recognition and fewer opportunities than the men of the family. But these women were exceptionally talented, and they were nurtured and trained by each other and by their male relatives.

The patriarch, Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), was raised in Annapolis. He apprenticed as a saddlemaker but yearned to paint. Recognizing his talent, a group of Annapolis gentry became his patrons, sent him to England for training, and introduced him to early Maryland families who commissioned portraits. He was ambitious and prolific. The Hammond-Harwood House museum collection features many of his works. 

Peale had 11 children with his first wife, Rachel Brewer. He named them after Renaissance painters – Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, and Raphael all became painters. Among Peale and his siblings, along with descendant children, grandchildren, wives, nieces, and nephews, there were at least 17 painters in the family over a 125-year period. Nine of these artists were women.

American artists of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries mainly painted portraits, but they also produced miniatures, still lifes, and landscapes. Peale family women were proficient in all these genres. Young women learning the techniques of portraiture usually began by working on miniatures. James Peale, Charles Willson’s brother, was a master of this form. Miniatures are small portraits painted in watercolor on ivory; they measure under four inches high. Great skill was required, along with a steady hand and a mastery of technique. James’ daughters Anna Claypoole Peale, Sarah Miriam Peale, and Margaretta Angelica Peale worked with him. As James’ eyesight began to fail, Anna Claypoole pursued the medium on her own. Miniature painting was, according to James, “the most suitable employment for a lady.” Anna Claypoole produced more than 200 of these small portraits of presidents and notable Philadelphians, but she later painted full-scale portraits and still lifes. She also taught her niece, Mary Jane Simes, the art of miniature painting. After her second marriage in 1841 at the age of 50, she retired from painting. 

Anna Claypoole Peale’s younger sisters Margaretta Angelica and Sarah Miriam were also artists; Sarah Miriam was the first American woman to be recognized as a professional artist. She received training in her father ‘s studio in Philadelphia and then with her cousin Rembrandt Peale (Charles Willson Peale’s son) in Baltimore. Later she was one of the first women accepted into the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the oldest art school in the country.

Sarah Miriam Peale’s mastery is evident in her portraits. The exhibition includes a self-portrait done in 1830 when she was 30 years old. This portrait depicts a confident woman in a modest gold gown accented by delicate lace contrasted with a dark blue mantle. Her clear blue eyes look out at the viewer. She painted more than 100 portraits of prominent statesmen, including Lafayette. She was also a master of the still life; one of hers is in the Hammond-Harwood House permanent collection, as is a work by her sister Margaretta Angelica, who was primarily a still life painter. 

Family members mentored each other through teaching and assisting, copying, and making variations of each other’s works. The landscape painting in the exhibition by Harriet Cany Peale, wife of Rembrandt Peale, is a copy of one by Paul Weber. Its ethereal beauty captures the essence of the American landscape and connects with the philosophy of the Hudson River School painters.

Other family members who became artists include Mary Jane Peale and Anna Peale Sellers, both granddaughters of Charles Willson. Of the nine women artists in the Peale family, only two married; the others preferred to devote their lives to their painting profession. 

The exhibition at Hammond-Harwood House honoring these early American women painters runs until August 15. The museum is located at 19 Maryland Avenue in Annapolis and is open daily, except Tuesdays, from noon to 5 p.m. For more information: hammondharwoodhouse.org. 

— Barbara Goyette, Executive Director and Lucinda Edinberg, Curator