Charles Willson Peale: Art and Selfhood in the Early Republic (Ahmanson Murphy Fine Arts Imprint)

Son of a convicted felon whose early death left the family impoverished, Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) went on to lead a staggeringly full and successful life. A portrait painter who produced an unparalleled body of work, including the iconic __The Artist in His Museum,__ Peale was also a revolutionary soldier, a radical activist, an impresario of moving pictures, a natural historian, an inventor, and the proprietor of one of the first modern museums. His many other interests included a lifelong preoccupation with writing; in fact, his autobiography is one of the first examples of the genre in the United States. David C. Ward's engaging book, richly textured with references to the history and culture of the time, is the first full critical biography of Peale. It links the artist's autobiography to his painting, illuminating the man, his art, and his times. Peale emerges for the first time as that particularly American phenomenon: the self-made man. Before Peale's time, autobiographies had been written mainly as religious and confessional documents. Peale, however, produced his secular work to describe, not how God made him, but how he worked to make himself. This compelling study, drawing extensively from Peale's extraordinary autobiography, shows how Peale's life itself documents the development of American independence and individualism. Ultimately Ward addresses Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur's great question, "What then is the American, this new man?" as he sheds light on one of these new men and on the formative years in which he lived. Son of a Convicted Felon Whose Early death left the family impoverished, Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) went on to lead a staggeringly full and successful life. A portrait painter who produced an unparalleled body of work, including the iconic Artist in His Museum, Peale was also a revolutionary soldier, a radical activist, an impresario of moving pictures, a natural historian, an inventor, and the proprietor of one of the first modern museums. His many other interests included a lifelong preoccupation with writing; in fact, his autobiography is one of the first examples of the genre in the United States. David C. Ward's engaging and erudite book, richly textured with references to the history and culture of the time, is the first full critical biography of Peale. It links the artist's autobiography to his painting, illuminating the man, his art, and his times. Peale emerges for the first time as a figure who embodied that particularly American phenomenon: the self-made man. Recounting many fascinating stories and incidents, Ward takes a new look at Peale's complex family life, his artistic career, and his multifaceted cultural ambitions. Before Peale, life histories had been written mainly as religious and confessional documents. Peale, however, produced his secular work to describe not how God made him, but how he worked to make himself. This compelling study, drawing extensively from Peale's extraordinary autobiography, shows how Peale's life itself documents the development of American independence and individualism. Ultimately Ward addresses Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's great question, "What then is the American, this new man?" as he sheds light on one of these new men and on the formative years in which he lived. "Son of a convicted felon whose early death left the family impoverished, Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) went on to lead a staggeringly full and successful life. A portrait painter who produced an unparalleled body of work, including the iconic The Artist in His Museum, Peale was also a revolutionary soldier, a radical activist, an impresario of moving pictures, a natural historian, an inventor, and the proprietor of one of the first modern museums. His many other interests included a lifelong preoccupation with writing; in fact, his autobiography is one of the first examples of the genre in the United States. David C. Ward's book, with references to the history and culture of the time, is the first full critical biography of Peale. It links the artist's autobiography to his painting, illuminating the man, his art, and his times. Peale emerges for the first time as that particularly American phenomenon: the self-made man." "Recounting many stories and incidents, Ward takes a new look at Peale's complex family life, his artistic career, and his multifaceted cultural ambitions. Before Peale, life histories had been written mainly as religious and confessional documents. Peale, however, produced his secular work to describe not how God made him, but how he worked to make himself. This study, drawing extensively from Peale's life itself documents the development of American independence and individualism. Ultimately Ward addresses Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's great question, "What then is the American, this new man?" as he sheds light on one of these new men and on the formative years in which he lived."--BOOK JACKET.

Son of a convicted felon whose early death left the family impoverished, Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) went on to lead a staggeringly full and successful life. A portrait painter who produced an unparalleled body of work, including the iconic The Artist in His Museum, Peale was also a revolutionary soldier, a radical activist, an impresario of moving pictures, a natural historian, an inventor, and the proprietor of one of the first modern museums. His many other interests included a lifelong preoccupation with writing; in fact, his autobiography is one of the first examples of the genre in the United States. David C. Ward's engaging book, richly textured with references to the history and culture of the time, is the first full critical biography of Peale. It links the artist's autobiography to his painting, illuminating the man, his art, and his times. Peale emerges for the first time as that particularly American phenomenon: the self-made man.
Before Peale's time, autobiographies had been written mainly as religious and confessional documents. Peale, however, produced his secular work to describe, not how God made him, but how he worked to make himself. This compelling study, drawing extensively from Peale's extraordinary autobiography, shows how Peale's life itself documents the development of American independence and individualism. Ultimately Ward addresses Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur's great question, "What then is the American, this new man?" as he sheds light on one of these new men and on the formative years in which he lived.

"These pages display the impressive artwork and story of Charles A. Wilimovsky. An influential teacher at both the Kansas City Art Institute and the Art Institute of Chicago, Wilimovsky was a forgotten master until Kansas City eye surgeon Roland Sabates began researching regional artists for his previous book, The Art and History of the Oak Street Mansion. Wilimovsky's name kept surfacing as a teacher of such prominent artists as Walter Alexander Bailey, Ralph Goltry, Fred Geary and John Steuart Curry. Ever curious, Roland Sabates began the formidable task of researching both the artist and his works. He discovered not only an influential teacher, but an outstanding painter, etcher, and lithographer, and a master of the woodcut."--Cover Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Preface. Charles Willson Peale: This New Man Part I. “[W]hy not act the man[?]” Part II. “I scru[t]inize the actions of men” Part III. “It would seem a second creation” Notes Index