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Margaret Tilghman Carroll (Mrs. Charles Carroll "The Bannister"), by John Hesselius, c. 1765. Oil on canvas. 29 51/64 x 25 1/32 in. (75.7 x 63.6 cm.) Maryland Historical Society: Accession: 1976-6-1.
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Colonel Edward Fell, by John Hesselius, c. 1764. Oil on canvas. 45 3/4 x 35 19/32 in. (116.2 x 90.4 cm.) Maryland Historical Society: Accession: 1986-105-5.
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Ann Bond Fell (Mrs. Edward Fell), by John Hesselius, c. 1764. Oil on canvas. 43 63/64 x 36 1/16 in. (111.7 x 91.6 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: 1986-105-4.
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Medium/Discipline: Painting
Birthplace: Prince George's County, Maryland
Place of Death: Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Maryland Affiliation: Born here, Depicts Maryland subjects, Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Portraits
Subject Headings: Hesselius, Johan; Hesselius, Johann
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: John Hesselius, the son of Gustavus Hesselius, America's first portrait painter of note, has been called "the most prolific Maryland painter of the pre-Revolutionary period" by scholar J. Hall Pleasants. There are more than 100 paintings attributed to him. John Hesselius' painting style reflects the influence of his father until the 1750s, when Pleasants suggests that Hesselius "came under the influence of Wollaston and his work deteriorated and became stylized."While John Hesselius grew up in Philadelphia, he made frequent trips to Maryland and Virginia. He met his wife, the wealthy young widow Mary Woodward, in Annapolis, Maryland and married her in 1763. Woodward was the daughter of Colonel Richard Young, whose association with Hesselius afforded the painter the opportunity for exposure among the landholding aristocracy of the Annapolis region. Hesselius and his wife lived on the "Bellefield" plantation on the Severn River where he lived and painted for the rest of his life. He gave Charles Willson Peale his first painting instruction. John Hesselius also painted portraits of children, including his son Gustavus Hesselius, Jr., who was born in 1765; he died when only two years old; legend has it that he was poisoned by the fruit that a black nurse holds out to him in that portrait.
Taught By: his father, Gustavus Hesselius
Art-related Employment: painter
Selected References: Dean, Mary A. [et al.]. 350 Years of Art & Architecture in Maryland (College Park : Art Gallery, and Gallery of the School of Architecture, University of Maryland), 1984.
Pleasants, J. Hall. Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland (Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art), 1945.
Woods, Jean. Celebrating 350 Years: Nineteenth-Century Maryland Artists. (Hagerstown: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts exhibition April 1-29), 1984.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Baltimore Museum of Art (painting); Maryland Historical Society; Washington County Museum of Fine Arts
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