Portrait of Richard Samuel Smith (1752-1796)

Charles Willson Peale was one of the most prominent American portraitists of the late eighteenth century. He studied in England from 1767 to 1769, where his skill as a portraitist was realized. Upon returning to America, Peale settled in Philadelphia, the nation’s first capital. He painted images of many Revolutionary War heroes and of the leaders of the new republic, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. As well as an artist, Peale was also a naturalist, scientist, archaeologist, and farmer. In 1782 he founded the country’s first museum, exhibiting his own paintings as well as his vast collection of natural history specimens. Peale’s crisp and clear style shows close observation of his subject. Here, Richard Samuel Smith, a member of the New Jersey Assembly and of the Convention that adopted the Constitution of the United States, is depicted as a sophisticated and distinguished gentleman. Smith’s face is well defined and delicately modeled. Turned toward the viewer, his glance is gentle, but penetrating. Smith’s gray jacket, blue satin waistcoat, and powdered hairstyle are sensitively rendered, another typical feature of Peale’s work. The frame surrounding this portrait is also eighteenth-century.