Anna Claypoole Peale

Anna Claypoole Peale (March 6, 1791 – December 25, 1878) was an American painter who specialized in portrait miniatures on ivory and still lifes. She and her sister, Sarah Miriam Peale, were the first women elected academicians of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Early life Anna Claypoole Peale was born on March 6, 1791, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James Peale (1749–1831) and Mary Chambers Claypoole Peale (1753–1829). Anna was the fourth of six children, and the third daughter. Her siblings were: Jane Ramsay (1785–1834), Maria (1787–1866), James Jr. (1789–1876), Margaretta Angelica (1795–1882), Sarah Miriam (Sally) (1800–1885) and Eleanor. Anna was the only child to carry the Claypoole name, and used it throughout her career. From a young age Anna watched her father, a miniature portrait artist, painting in his studio to learn the art form, "hours and hours at a time watching James progress. He took great pains in teaching her, pointing out the peculiar touches that produced his best efforts by giving a charm to the expression". Her entrepreneurial inclinations were evident at the age of 14 when she copied two French landscapes and sold them at auction for a good price. Under her father's guidance, Anna began studying portraiture, and was able to capture viable likenesses of her sitters. Her father was likely encouraged to train Anna by his brother Charles Willson Peale who, with William Rush, co-founded the first American art academy, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). Anna served a five-year apprenticeship with her father, in whose studio she was later joined by her sisters Sarah Miriam and Margaretta Angelica. Anna must have been about sixteen when she painted Girl with a Book, circa 1807. This portrait communicates the artist's pleasure in the act of painting, which is revealed in a lambent play of light on the figure. The subject holds a book on which the artist's name is substituted for the title on the cover. From about 1810, Peale's paintings are generally signed, and as the artist adapted a professional persona, she added the initial C, an acknowledgement of her mother's family, the Claypooles, to her signature. In 1811, at age 20, Anna participated in the first exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which was also her first major exhibition. There, she exhibited a still life in oils.