Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Daughter, Rembrandt Peale; Charles Willson Peale

Artwork Overview

Rembrandt Peale; Charles Willson Peale, Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Daughter
Rembrandt Peale; Charles Willson Peale, Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Daughter
Rembrandt Peale , Charles Willson Peale
Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Daughter
1812
Rembrandt Peale, artist
1778–1860
Charles Willson Peale, artist
1741–1827
Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Daughter, 1812
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: oil; canvas
Dimensions:
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 74.9 x 62.9 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 29 1/2 x 24 3/4 in
Credit line: Gift of Professor Herman B. Chubb and Mrs. Julia Chubb
Accession number: 1960.0060
Not on display
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Label texts

Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) exemplified the ingenuity and intellectual curiosity of the young American republic. He named his children after major artists and scientists, including Raphael, Rubens, and Linnaeus. Most of his children fulfilled their father’s ambitions by becoming painters, scientific illustrators, or naturalists. His second surviving son, Rembrandt, achieved notoriety for his many portraits of George Washington. This portrait of Mary Clare Maccubbin Brice and her daughter is a copy after a painting his father produced circa 1773.

Historically, the act of copying from past masters was valued more than it is today. Rembrandt may have copied Charles’ portrait to satisfy desire on behalf of the Brice family to possess additional visual reminders of Mrs. Brice, who died in 1806, or her daughter, who did not reach adulthood. This copy also reflects the esteem Rembrandt held for his father as an artist and mentor. The mother and child have been rendered as fairly generic pictorial types, a stylistic choice which aided an early 19th-century viewer in associating the pair with the virtue, compassion, and devotion characterized by iconographic representations of the Madonna and Child.

Exhibition Label:
"Corpus," Apr-2012, Kate Meyer
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) exemplified the ingenuity and intellectual curiosity of the young American republic. He named his children after major artists and scientists, including Raphael, Rubens, and Linnaeus. Most of his children fulfilled their father’s ambitions by becoming painters, scientific illustrators, or naturalists. His second surviving son, Rembrandt, achieved notoriety for his many portraits of George Washington. This portrait of Mary Clare Maccubbin Brice and her daughter is a copy after a painting his father produced circa 1773.

Historically, the act of copying from past masters was valued more than it is today. Rembrandt may have copied Charles’ portrait to satisfy desire on behalf of the Brice family to possess additional visual reminders of Mrs. Brice, who died in 1806, or her daughter, who did not reach adulthood. This copy also reflects the esteem Rembrandt held for his father as an artist and mentor. The mother and child have been rendered as fairly generic pictorial types, a stylistic choice which aided an early 19th-century viewer in associating the pair with the virtue, compassion, and devotion characterized by iconographic representations of the Madonna and Child.

Archive Label 2003:
Portrait of Mrs. John Brice and Child is a copy of a work done by the artist’s father Charles Willson Peale. The original was painted around 1773 for Mrs. Brice’s uncle, Charles Carroll, Barrister. The whereabouts of the original painting is still unknown.

Of all the Peale offspring, Rembrandt had the closest artistic relationship with his ingenious father. Charles Willson boasted of his son’s “extraordinary talents in the art of painting” and arranged for his son to study under Benjamin West in England. Although momentarily distracted by the large history paintings in Europe, Rembrandt returned to America and to a lucrative career as a portraitist.

Exhibitions

Corpus - Project Redefine: Phase 2
Kris Ercums, curator
2012–2015
Google Art Project
2016

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 7 Oct-2004, William Hambleton, Docent I’m David Cateforis with another art minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. At the south end of the Spencer’s 18th and 19th century gallery hangs a portrait of “Mrs. Brice and Child” by the American artist Rembrandt Peale, an 1812 copy of an earlier portrait by his father, Charles Willson Peale. Note the generally pale colors, the dark background, the oval faces and triangular composition, the repetition of pearls on Mrs. Brice’s gown, the fine brush work, and the stillness of the pose and setting - all suggesting a quality of timelessness. Now walk to the north end of the 19th century gallery to find Robert Henri’s 1910 painting, “Laughing Girl.” Many of the same elements of the Peale portrait are present here: a dark background, somewhat oval face, and repetition of pearls in the necklace. But my how things have changed in 100 years. The face colors in the Henri are vivid, the brushwork is coarse and rapid. His picture is full of spontaneous energy, suggesting that if he had painted it a few moments later; the girl’s pose would have been completely different. Henri is said to have commented that if you couldn’t paint a portrait in an hour, you probably were not very good. With thanks to William Hambleton for his text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.