Last week we started the month off with a Portrait Tour of the National Gallery of Art in DC. Now I would like to discuss one of the artist talked about in that tour, Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale was born into a family of artists. His father Charles Wilson Peale was an American artist most famous for his portraiture, especially of the founding fathers. He also established one of the first museums in the United States. Charles named most of his children after his favorite artists- Raphaelle, Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens and many of his children went on to become artists.
It was in this home that Rembrandt was born in 1778 in Pennsylvania. Rembrandt began drawing at the age of 8 and did his first self portrait at the age of 13. At the age of 18 Rembrandt painted George Washington for the first time. At the age of 23 Rembrandt painted the picture below of his brother Rubens and with a geranium.
This is one of my favorite portraits in the National Gallery.
Rembrandt Peale
Rubens Peale with a Geranium, 1801
From the Portrait Tour about the painting
The reason I like this painting so much is the tenderness brother painted brother. Here we see Rubens at the age of 17 years old with his geranium which is "reputed to be the first specimen of this exotic plant ever grown in the new world."
Some call this a double portrait.
This brings me back to my question from the tour?
Can a portrait be of something that is not a person?
I think so. The plant is carefully painted like his brother. The care Rembrandt took in painting his brother is evident and the loving care and touch of Rubens for his geranium.
Rembrandt studied in London at the Royal Academy and with Benjamin West. He also lived and painted in Paris. At the age of 36 he opened a museum and portrait gallery in Baltimore, Maryland. He sold the museum 8 years later. It is now known as the Peale Museum. He painted 76 replicas of his painting of George Washington he did while he was young. He died at the age of 82 in Philadelphia having completed more than 600 paintings many being famous, wealthy and influential people at the start of the United States.
Britannica- Charles Wilson Peale
Wikipedia- Charles Wilson Peale
NGA-Rubens Peale with a Geranium
Britannica- Rembrant Peale
Art Talk Series Highlights
2020
Art Talk: Recycled Plastic Art Movement
Art Talk: Gates of Paradise
March- Italian Renaissance
Art Talk: NGA Italian Renaissance Tour
Art Talk: Raphael
Art Talk: Venus
Art Talk: Egg Tempera
Art Talk: Guest Blogger, @laurabellamy
April- French Impressionism
Art Talk: NGA French Impressionism Tour
Art Talk: Fredric Bazille
Art Talk: The Mother and Sister of the Artist
Art Talk: En plein air
May- Hudson River School
Art Talk: NGA Hudson River School Tour
Art Talk: Albert Bierstadt
Art Talk: The Voyage of Life
Art Talk: Romanticism & Nature & Hudson River School
June-Andrew Mellon and the Hermitage
Art Talk: NGA Andrew Mellon and the Hermitage Tour
Art Talk: Rembrandt
Art Talk: The Annunciation
Art Talk: Provenance
2018
Art Talk: Introduction
Art Talk: Emotion in Bronze
Art Talk: Moore Across America
Art Talk: Bronze
Art Talk: Moore in America
Art Talk: King and Queen
Art Talk: Art Tells Our Story
Art Talk: Highlight Tour of the MET
Art Talk: The Burghers of Calais
Art Talk: Auguste Rodin
Art Talk: Art in Paris in the 1870s
Art Talk: Guest Blogger, Frankie O'Neill
Art Talk: "Felt is a happy fabric."
Art Talk: Murals in Klamath Falls
Art Talk: Woman with a Parasol- Madame Monet and Her Son
Art Talk: Respect and Compassion
2019
Art Talk: Art Connects Us
Art Talk: My mother's crystal
Art Talk: Mother and Child
Art Talk: Tour of the Galleria dell' Accademia
Art Talk: Walking tour of Florence, Italy
Art Talk: Chihuly at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Art Talk: Vatican tour highlights
Art Talk: Ceilings in the Vatican
Art Talk: Chihuly at Kew Gardens
Art Talk: MET Highlight tour
Art Talk: Japan at the MET
Art Talk: Up Close with French art at the National Gallery of Art in DC
Art Talk: Kelpies
Art Talk: Buying from local artists
Art Talk: Guest Blogger, Joia Doiron
Haveyoubeenhere 2019 Steemitworldmap travel contest- Four Wonderful Museums