# Charles Willson Peale Self-Portrait

**Charles Willson Peale** (American, 1741–1827)  
c. 1791  
Oil on canvas  
Frame: 84.8 x 72.1 x 7.3cm (33 3/8 x 28 3/8 x 2 7/8")

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.89.205. [The museum's record](https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.89.205).

## About this work

Charles Willson Peale painted this in about 1791, aged 50. It is now at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

Artist: Charles Willson Peale, Sitter: Charles Willson Peale, Current owner: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

_Description from the National Portrait Gallery._

### 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 50
- Real size: about 33 × 28 in (85 × 72 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: Legislators, Arts and Culture, Literature, Painters, Self-portraits, Writers, Government, Portraits
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1854.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1854/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/charles-willson-peale-self-portrait-si-npg-npg-89-205).