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Lot Essay
Rembrandt Peale was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1778, during the American Revolution. His father, Charles Willson Peale, was not only considered the leading painter of the American colonies, but he was also a patriot, who left home shortly after his son's birth to fight with General Washington's army. Encouraged by both parents to paint at an early age, Rembrandt first dedicated himself to painting portraits. However, upon the artist's return from a trip to Paris in 1810, "his thoughts had turned to creating large exhibition pieces, or history paintings in the Grand Manner, such as those he had viewed in exhibitions at the Louvre or in the studio of David while painting. David's portrait for his father's museum. He may also have been influenced by Benjamin West's advice, conveyed to him in a letter from his father, that he should not waste his talents indiscriminately in portrait painting, but should devote his efforts to subjects that had 'powers to dignify man.'" (L.B. Miller, Rembrandt Peale: A Life in the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1985, p. 14)
Unable to find a market for this type of work in the United States, Rembrandt Peale turned his energies to opening a museum and then to founding a gas lighting company in Baltimore. When these ventures did not prove fruitful, in 1822, he sold the museum to his brother and moved to New York. It was during the next few years that Peale conceived of a large scale portrait of the Republic's first president. Stylistically similar to the history pictures that he desperately wanted to paint, Peale's elaborate portrait depicts " [the Marquis de] Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, General Henry Knox, and Count Rochambeau in a landscape that imaged the events just preceding the surrender of the British at Yorktown in October 1781." (L.B. Miller, In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, Washington, DC, 1992, p. 145)
Peale intended for his work to decorate one of the walls of the government buildings of the new Republic. His work, which was planned on a grand scale, was to feature a precise likeness of the first president. To argue his cause, he created this presentation piece, as an exact model for the final version. "Throughout 1824, Rembrandt concentrated on persuading Congress to commission an equestrian portrait, Washington Before Yorktown Believing that testimonials to the accuracy of his portrait from men who had been familiar with Washington during his lifetime would be of enormous importance for his future career and 'will to me and my family insure an honourable reward for my labours,' he importuned Bushrod Washington, Judge Richard Peters, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, and even the Marquis de Lafayette among others for 'a few lines' in favor of the picture's accuracy as a likeness." (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, p. 144)
Rembrandt Peale and his supporters aggressively petitioned his case. "Toward the end of February, Rembrandt traveled to Washington to plead his cause. To help him, his father was ready with letters to Colonel George Bomford, an art collector in Georgetown who seemed to have possessed political clout, and to James Monroe and others who might 'have any chance of being of the least use to him.' Throughout the month of March, the portrait was on view in the Vice President's room next to the Senate's chamber. Resolutions to authorize the President to employ Rembrandt to paint an equestrian portrait for the Capitol were introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives by Congressman Samuel Breck of Philadelphia--a supporter of John Quincy Adams--and Senator Richard Johnson of Kentucky, a Jacksonian Democrat and a family friend. Congress, however, was not ready to act, and the resolutions were tabled. Disappointed with John Trumbull's large paintings for the Capitol rotunda, which they had approved from small sketches, congressmen were reluctant to 'vote money for expected works.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, pp. 144-145)
A passionate artist to the core, Peale fought hard to gain a commission from the newly formed government. "A Congressional committee had been established to consider a resolution to commission Rembrandt to paint the large work. To the members of this committee, Rembrandt delivered a parting message, praising his proposed creation as 'a Magnificent Picture' and assuring them that the rotunda of the Capitol, 'a Hall of Grand and imposing proportions,' would be an appropriate place for such a work. This would be, he was certain, a most 'sublime' artistic achievement. During the summer, in anticipation that Congress would vote to commission the equestrian portrait, Rembrandt began work on it. In January 1825, he offered his nearly completed Washington before Yorktown (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC) to Congress for a 'sum much more moderate than would otherwise be reasonable.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, pp. 145)
Neither this presentation piece, nor the second, larger version were purchased by the American government during Peale's lifetime, but it was not for lack of the artist's passionate efforts. In his last speech to Congress before the final vote, "he appealed to national pride: 'Our public Edifices have been constructed by native architects and are beginning to do honour to their genius. It is true the costly sculpture which decorates them is all from foreign hands--but shall not their walls be animated by the pencils of Americans who, otherwise, must look to Europe for a home? If so much has been done under discouraging circumstances, how much greater talent and more useful demonstration of it may not be expected when excited by the highest emulation for national patronage.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, p. 145)
Unable to find a market for this type of work in the United States, Rembrandt Peale turned his energies to opening a museum and then to founding a gas lighting company in Baltimore. When these ventures did not prove fruitful, in 1822, he sold the museum to his brother and moved to New York. It was during the next few years that Peale conceived of a large scale portrait of the Republic's first president. Stylistically similar to the history pictures that he desperately wanted to paint, Peale's elaborate portrait depicts " [the Marquis de] Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, General Henry Knox, and Count Rochambeau in a landscape that imaged the events just preceding the surrender of the British at Yorktown in October 1781." (L.B. Miller, In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, Washington, DC, 1992, p. 145)
Peale intended for his work to decorate one of the walls of the government buildings of the new Republic. His work, which was planned on a grand scale, was to feature a precise likeness of the first president. To argue his cause, he created this presentation piece, as an exact model for the final version. "Throughout 1824, Rembrandt concentrated on persuading Congress to commission an equestrian portrait, Washington Before Yorktown Believing that testimonials to the accuracy of his portrait from men who had been familiar with Washington during his lifetime would be of enormous importance for his future career and 'will to me and my family insure an honourable reward for my labours,' he importuned Bushrod Washington, Judge Richard Peters, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, and even the Marquis de Lafayette among others for 'a few lines' in favor of the picture's accuracy as a likeness." (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, p. 144)
Rembrandt Peale and his supporters aggressively petitioned his case. "Toward the end of February, Rembrandt traveled to Washington to plead his cause. To help him, his father was ready with letters to Colonel George Bomford, an art collector in Georgetown who seemed to have possessed political clout, and to James Monroe and others who might 'have any chance of being of the least use to him.' Throughout the month of March, the portrait was on view in the Vice President's room next to the Senate's chamber. Resolutions to authorize the President to employ Rembrandt to paint an equestrian portrait for the Capitol were introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives by Congressman Samuel Breck of Philadelphia--a supporter of John Quincy Adams--and Senator Richard Johnson of Kentucky, a Jacksonian Democrat and a family friend. Congress, however, was not ready to act, and the resolutions were tabled. Disappointed with John Trumbull's large paintings for the Capitol rotunda, which they had approved from small sketches, congressmen were reluctant to 'vote money for expected works.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, pp. 144-145)
A passionate artist to the core, Peale fought hard to gain a commission from the newly formed government. "A Congressional committee had been established to consider a resolution to commission Rembrandt to paint the large work. To the members of this committee, Rembrandt delivered a parting message, praising his proposed creation as 'a Magnificent Picture' and assuring them that the rotunda of the Capitol, 'a Hall of Grand and imposing proportions,' would be an appropriate place for such a work. This would be, he was certain, a most 'sublime' artistic achievement. During the summer, in anticipation that Congress would vote to commission the equestrian portrait, Rembrandt began work on it. In January 1825, he offered his nearly completed Washington before Yorktown (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC) to Congress for a 'sum much more moderate than would otherwise be reasonable.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, pp. 145)
Neither this presentation piece, nor the second, larger version were purchased by the American government during Peale's lifetime, but it was not for lack of the artist's passionate efforts. In his last speech to Congress before the final vote, "he appealed to national pride: 'Our public Edifices have been constructed by native architects and are beginning to do honour to their genius. It is true the costly sculpture which decorates them is all from foreign hands--but shall not their walls be animated by the pencils of Americans who, otherwise, must look to Europe for a home? If so much has been done under discouraging circumstances, how much greater talent and more useful demonstration of it may not be expected when excited by the highest emulation for national patronage.'" (In Pursuit of Fame: Rembrandt Peale, p. 145)