Portrait of a Lady (Harriet Cany Peale)
Artist
Rembrandt Peale
(American, 1778-1860)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1840
MediumOil on canvas, mounted on panel
Dimensions30 x 24 3/4 in. (76.2 x 62.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 38 x 33 1/2 in. (96.5 x 85.1 cm)
Overall, Frame: 38 x 33 1/2 in. (96.5 x 85.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.687
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 211
Label TextRembrandt Peale American, 1778–1860 Portrait of a Lady (Harriet Cany Peale), ca. 1840 Oil on canvas, mounted on wood Sparkling eyes and a tilted head suggest the inquisitive and artistic nature of Harriet Cany Peale, the wife of Philadelphia portraitist Rembrandt Peale. Painted around the time of their marriage, this picture conveys the “love of painting and zeal for improvement” that, in her husband’s words, united this pair. Harriet took art lessons from Rembrandt, and her own Ideal Portrait hangs to the left. Both were widowed and mature in age, but Peale presents his wife in an elegant blue dress and exotic turban to celebrate her charm. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.687 ProvenanceDavid David, Philadelphia, Pa., by 1963; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 1971. Exhibition HistoryPossibly exhibited at Artist's Fund Society, Philadelphia, Pa., 1840, as _Portrait of a Lady_. (Note: Peale's self-portrait of 1840 was exhibited here.) "The Peale Heritage, 1763-1963," Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Md., September 15 - October 30, 1963, no. 31, as __Portrait of a Woman_. "The Peale Family: Three Generations of American Artists," Detroit Institute of Arts, Mich., January 18 - March 5, 1967; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, N.Y., March 26 - May 7, 1967, no. 142. "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, 1778-1860," National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 6, 1992 - February 7, 1993. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. Published ReferencesCharles Coleman Sellers, _The Peale Heritage, 1763-1963_, exh. cat., Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 1963, no. 31, as _Portrait of a Woman_. Charles H. Elam, _The Peale Family: Three Generations of American Artists_, exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts, Mich., 1967, 106-107. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_ (Norfolk, Va., 1975), 73, 87. Chrysler Museum, _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_ (Norfolk, Va., 1982), 80. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 Robert Devlin Schwartz, _A Gallery Collects Peales_, exh. cat., Frank S. Schwartz & Son, Philadelphia, Pa., 1987, 30. Lillian B. Miller, _In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, 1778-1860 (Washington, D.C.: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 1992), 184, plate 28; 326, fig. 107. ISBN: 0295972432 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 44, no. 19. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
Pair/Pair