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Show Msfora? Mighlights luf ZLho Scott Waho (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Shared Washington' Birthday 'TPHE fame of two American art-ists art-ists rests largely upon their association as-sociation with George Washington and their portraits of him. They were Charles Willson Peale and his son, Rembrandt Peale, and coincidence coinci-dence also plays a part in their relationship rela-tionship with the Father of His Country. For Rembrandt Peale was bom on Washington's birthday February 22, 1773 and his father died on Washington's birthday February Feb-ruary 22, 1827. Being the son of an artist, it was only natural perhaps that Rembrandt Peale should become a painter. So it is not surprising to learn that he began be-gan to draw at the age of eight and by the time he was 13 he had painted a portrait of himself. Charles Willson Ppalp hart madf the first known portrait of Washington Washing-ton (painted in 1772 and depicting him as an officer in the Virginia militia) mi-litia) and had served as a captain of volunteers under him at the Battle of Trenton. When Washington became be-came President, he was constantly importuned to sit for his portrait. Some of these requests he denied, but he could not refuse his old friend, when in 1795 Charles Willson Peale asked him to pose for his talented tal-ented young son, Rembrandt. In fact, he granted the boy three sittings sit-tings in his father's studio in Philadelphia Phila-delphia and the portrait reproduced below was the result. This portrait of Washington was the only one which Rembrandt Peale made from life, but another of his pictures of the First American, not drawn from life, is even more famous. fa-mous. Known as the "Equestrian Portrait" it is entitled "Washington Before Yorktown" and it was not made until 1823. But when Chief Justice John Marshall, who had served under Washington in the Revolution, saw it, he exclaimed "It is more like Washington himself than any portrait I have ever seen." In 1796 Charles Willson Peale decided de-cided to give up portrait painting and recommended his talented son, I T f 1 Portrait of Washington, made by Rembrandt Peale when he was only 17 years old. Rembrandt, to the public as his successor. suc-cessor. But the son was not immediately imme-diately successful and went to Charleston, S. C, where he had his studio for several years. In 1801 he went to England to continue his studies under his father's instructor, instruc-tor, the famous Benjamin West, but after a short time there his health failed and he returned to his home in Philadelphia. He intended to abandon art for agriculture but, after painting a few portraits, he was surprised to find himself hailed as a worthy successor to his famous father. In 1804 he advertised himself as "Rembrandt, portrait painter in large and small, head of Mulberry court, leading from Sixth, three doors above Market street" and explained ex-plained that he desired to be known by his first name alone, "the adjunct ad-junct Peale serving only to show of whom descended." Three years later he visited Paris to paint the most distinguished men of the day and was successful in this enterprise. After a second trip to Paris in 1809. he came back to America the following follow-ing year and from that time, until his death in 13G0, his fame as a portraitist, por-traitist, a painter of historic scenes and a lithographer (one of the first to practice the art in America) was undiminished. Although Washington sat for his portrait by the 17-yr-ar-old Rembrandt Rem-brandt Peale in 1705, it was not until un-til 1823 that the artist finally finished it. He spent those 23 year3 in working work-ing on it to make it suit his ideal of a true likeness of the great man. He took it wi:h him when he went abroad and exhibited it in Italy and England where it attracted a great deal of attention. After his return to America, the portrait ws3 bought by the United States senate and it now hangs in the vice president's room in the senate wing CapitoL j |
