AFA 18th Anniversary

18th Anniversary 142 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Sarah Miriam Peale was the youngest daughter of James and Mary Claypoole Peale. Like her sister Anna her abilities were publicly acknowledged by her election as an academician of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Instructed in still life painting and oil portraiture by James, she assisted him in his studio and later practiced both genres during a long independent career, which unfolded in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. Like Anna, she painted many high-profile individuals. During the early 1820s in Baltimore, Sarah studied with her cousin, Rembrandt, who occasionally facilitated commissions. Sarah’s patrons embraced her ability to capture their individual features and personalities in dynamic, visually interesting compositions. Her portrait of Cornelia Mandeville (1811–1841), the daughter of Henry D. Mandeville (1787–1878), a Philadelphia China trade merchant, manifests these qualities, with Cornelia’s firm gaze also projecting Sarah’s own intensity and assurance. Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878), the eldest daughter of James and Mary Claypoole Peale, was among nineteenth-century America’s most prominent miniature painters. Instructed by James, she exhibited extensively at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, but also actively sought commissions in Washington, Baltimore, New York, and Boston. She painted well over 150 miniatures during her career, many of nationally renowned figures. Anna’s 1817 portrait of Philadelphian, John McAllister Jr. (1786–1877), a partner in his father’s prosperous optical equipment business, is a fine example of her realistic style, and is more akin to the works of her contemporaries than those of her father in its richer skin tones, more saturated color, and greater sense of physicality. James’ 1812 oil portraits of McAllister’s parents, also in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection, suggest they shared family commissions. Sarah Miriam Peale (1800–1885), Portrait of Cornelia Mandeville (1811– 1841), ca. 1830. Oil on canvas, 30 x 24⅞ inches. Gift of Marie Josephine Rozet and Rebecca Mandeville Rozet Hunt (1935-13-26). Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878), Portrait of John McAllister Jr. (1786– 1877), 1817. Signed and dated, lower left: Anna C./Peale/1817. Watercolor on ivory, 2⅞ x 2⅜ inches. Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection (2008-112-5).