CAM Look | Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Bailey by Charles Wilson Peale | 1/25/21

Good morning and welcome to CAM Look, your daily dose of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Each weekday, a member of staff or a volunteer shares a work from our permanent collection and poses a few questions for discussion. We hope you'll check back each weekday at 10 AM for a new work and a new chat. My name is Emily and I'm the Director of Learning and Interpretation at the museum, and today I'm sharing a couple stern looking folks who hang out in our Colonial and Federal Gallery up on the up on the second floor Gallery 218. Mr and Mrs. Wilson-Peale. Charles Wilson-Peale was born in Queen Anne's County, MD in 1741. When his father, a schoolmaster, died while Peale was still quite young, he, as the eldest son, was required to help his mother. To support the family, Peale was apprenticed to various professions. Among these were saddle making, silversmithing, sign painting, and portraiture. Realizing he had a talent for the latter, at age 21 he taught himself to paint and took several lessons with painter John Heslius, to whom he gave a saddle in exchange for instruction. In 1768, he moved to Boston, where he took classes from John Singleton Copley. When he returned to Maryland in 1770, his talent was soon recognized by area planters who raised money for him to study with history and portrait painter Benjamin West in London. While in England, Peale also studied wax modeling, plaster casting and molding, mezzotint engraving, and miniature painting. In 1775, Peale moved to Philadelphia to set up a portrait studio. Shortly after, the American Revolution erupted and he joined the militia, where he fought with Washington at the Battles of Princeton and Trenton. In 1779, he was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature. Peale established Peale's Museum in 1784. The museum contained a series of portraits of famous Americans by Peale and his son Rembrandt, as well as several American Indian artifacts, wax mannequins, and specimens of natural history. Peale's greatest fame, however, rests chiefly on his achievements as a portrait painter. This is due in part to his association with George Washington, who allowed him no less than 14 sittings. He painted his first portrait of Washington in 1772 and returned repeatedly during the Revolutionary War to capture his likeness. Peale was a man of lively imagination and enthusiastic character. From his three marriages, he had 17 children, many of whom became and were named after him. In the Art Museum's portrait of Mr. Francis Bailey and his wife Mrs. Francis Bailey, we see Peale's belief in depicting sitters with a straightforward and unpretentious representation. The Bailey's appearance is free of adornment and both gaze out with a look of strength and determination. In the portrait of Mr. Francis Bailey, we see Peale's penchant for painting portraits to reflect the sitter's accomplishments. In this painting, Bailey is depicted proudly holding a letter of type, symbolic of his love for painting, and symbolic of his life as a printer. During his life, Bailey was a prominent journalist and the official printer of the United States Congress and the state of Pennsylvania. In this painting, Bailey is shown against a plain background, allowing greater emphasis on his intelligent and unpretentious character. In the painting of his wife, Portrait of Mrs. Francis Bailey, Peale depicts Eleanor Miller Bailey as frail, but with a matter-of-fact look. Her direct gaze allows the viewer to believe that she was a straightforward individual who is not afraid to express her opinions. Active in the Swedenborgian Church, she is depicted holding a large Bible. After the death of her husband in 1815, Mrs. Bailey moved to Cincinnati with five of her 11 children and became a teacher. It is thought that it was then that she brought these portraits to the city. She lived in Cincinnati until her death in 1832. While Peale was famous for his paintings of revolutionary heroes like George Washington, it was his simpler paintings like these that showed his talent for strong characterization. So here's my question to you. If you're having your portrait painted by say Charles Wilson Peale or another portrait artist, what would you include in your portrait to tell a little bit more about the story of your life? We'd love to know. Share in the comments below. Thanks and we'll see you tomorrow. Have a great day.