Charles Willson Peale Self-Portraitc. 1791
Charles Willson Peale painted this in about 1791, aged 50. It is now at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
Artist: Charles Willson Peale, Sitter: Charles Willson Peale, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Description from the National Portrait Gallery.
Charles Willson Peale painted this in about 1791, aged 50. It is now at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Charles Willson Peale
American, 1741–1827 · Born in Chester, Maryland; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Peale trained as a saddler in Maryland before turning to painting, and studied in London with Benjamin West. Back in America he served in the Revolutionary War and painted George Washington from life several times, along with many leaders of the new republic. In 1786 he opened a museum in Philadelphia, showing portraits beside natural history specimens, including an excavated mastodon skeleton. He named several of his children after artists, among them Raphaelle, Rembrandt and Rubens, and several became painters.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Portrait Gallery has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- NPG.89.205
- Credit
- Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- National Portrait Gallery
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
