Mary Jane Peale

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Mary Jane Peale
Born(1827-02-16)February 16, 1827
New York, New York
DiedNovember 22, 1902 (aged 75)
Pottsville, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Known forPainting, Portraiture, Still lifes
Pearl of Grief, 1855 by Mary Jane Peale

Mary Jane Peale (born New York City, February 16, 1827 - died Pottsville, Pennsylvania, November 22, 1902) was an American painter. She was the child of Rubens and Eliza Burd Patterson Peale, the only daughter among seven children, and was the granddaughter of Charles Willson Peale. She was among the last members of the Peale family to paint professionally, studying with her uncle Rembrandt and with Thomas Sully in Philadelphia, and was enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

She produced mainly portraits and still lifes, many of which featured flowers. Today her work may be seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Sheldon Museum of Art, and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, among other museums.

She maintained a greenhouse at the Peale family home.[1]

The papers and diaries of Mary Jane Peale are located in the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA, and include both original diaries and correspondence as well as photocopies. The contents of the collection is material related to Rubens and Eliza Peale, and the Peale family.[2] Microfilm copies of this collection can be found in the Library of the Smithsonian Institution.[3]

She is credited with teaching her father to paint, after his retirement, and there is evidence that some of the works attributed to him (such as Wedding Cake, Wine, Almonds, and Raisins and Rubens Peale in His Studio) may have instead been collaborative creations between the two.[4] After Rubens died in 1865, Mary Jane finished the paintings he had been working on.[5]

In her obituary, the New York Times said, "For a number of years she made her home in this city, but for several years had resided in Schuylkill County, at her place, "Riverside," the home of her childhood, on whose walls hung many ancient paintings by members of her family and portraits of Revolutionary heroes painted by her grandfather."[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Miller, Lillian B; Philadelphia Museum of Art; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum; Corcoran Gallery of Art (1996-01-01). The Peale family: creation of a legacy, 1770-1870. New York: Abbeville Press in association with the Trust for Museum Exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0789202069. OCLC 34473590.
  2. ^ Peale, Mary Jane. "Peale family papers, [ca. 1750-1940]". Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  3. ^ Peale, Mary Jane. "Mary Jane Peale and Peale family selected papers, [ca. 1815]-1897". www.aaa.si.edu/. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  4. ^ Miller, Lillian B; Philadelphia Museum of Art; M.H. de Young Memorial Museum; Corcoran Gallery of Art (1996-01-01). The Peale family: creation of a legacy, 1770-1870. New York: Abbeville Press in association with the Trust for Museum Exhibitions and the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0789202069. OCLC 34473590.
  5. ^ Gerdts, William H; Burke, Russell E (1971-01-01). American still-life painting. New York: Praeger. OCLC 206250.
  6. ^ "MARY JANE PEALE DEAD.: She Was the Last of Family of Famous Portrait Painters". New York Times. November 23, 1902. ProQuest 96178555.
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