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Sarah Miriam Peale, by Sarah Miriam Peale, c. 1830. 26 1/2 x 19 39/64 in.(67.3 x 49.8 cm). Maryland Historical Society, City Life Museums Collection,
Accession: MA8137.
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Fielding Lucas, Jr., by Sarah Miriam Peale, c. 1840. Oil on canvas. 29 59/64 x 25 15/64 in.(76 x 64.1 cm. Maryland Historical Society, Accession: 1943-19-1
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Two Children, by Sarah Miriam Peale, c. 1835. Oil on canvas. 29 23/32 x 25 13/64 in.(75.5 x 64.0 cm). Maryland Historical Society, City Life Museums Collection, Accession: MA8555-1970-45.
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Medium/Discipline: Painting
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Place of Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Maryland Affiliation: Depicts Maryland subjects, Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Still Life; Portraits
Gender: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: Perhaps America's foremost woman artist during the nineteenth century, Sarah Miriam Peale painted portraits and still lifes that outnumbered those of major regional artists, including Jacob Eichholz, John Wesley Jarvis, Thomas Sully and Alfred Jacob Miller. Sarah Miriam Peale was a daughter of James Peale (brother of Charles Willson Peale), and assisted her father and her sister, Anna Claypoole Peale, with fabric painting of shawls.Taught painting by her father and uncle, Sarah Miriam Peale started her art career in 1816 with subjects such as flowers and still life subjects; soon afterward, she turned to portraiture, which brought her acclaim. Lafayette sat for her four times. In 1818, she spent three months with Rembrandt Peale, her cousin, in Baltimore, and again in 1820 and 1822. Her cousin influenced her painting style and subject matter. For 25 years, she painted in Baltimore (1822-47) and, intermittently, in Washington, D.C. She lived in St. Louis, Missouri for about 30 years (1847-77), but returned to Philadelphia where she died in 1885. Sarah Miriam Peale never married.
Sarah Miriam Peale had a number of studios throughout her Baltimore residency. The studios were located at Charles and Pleasant Streets, on Fayette Street opposite the Old Post Office, and on Baltimore Street. From 1829 to 1845, she established herself as one of Baltimore's most capable portraitists. She did a portrait of Fielding Lucas, Jr., who helped to found the Maryland Institute College of Art (originally called the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts) in 1825.
Taught By: her uncle, Charles Willson Peale, and her father, James Peale
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.
Miller, Lillian B. The Peale Family: Creation of a Legacy 1770-1870. (Washington, D.C.: Abbeville Press), 1996.
Pleasants, J. Hall. Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland (Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art), 1945.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Baltimore Museum of Art; Maryland Historical Society
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