Portraits of Artists

All  |  People You Should Know

Artists  |  British  |  Colonials  |  Enslaved People  |  French  |  Germans  |  Natives  |  Spanish  |  Others

  • Mather Brown – American-born painter, active in England (1761—1831)
  • John Singleton Copley – American painter, principally active in London after 1774 (1738—1815)
  • Ralph Earl – American painter, principally of portraits (1751—1801)
  • Jean-Antoine Houdon – French sculptor who sometimes created his works from life-masks (1741—1828)
  • Charles Willson Peale – American painter, soldier; created first American museum (1741—1827)
  • Rembrandt Peale – American painter, son of Charles Willson Peale (1778—1860)
  • William Rush – American sculptor (1756—1833)
  • Gilbert Stuart – American painter of quintessential portraits, including George Washington (1755—1828)
  • Thomas Sully – British-born painter, mainly of portraits (1783—1872)
  • John Trumbull – American artist, soldier at the Battle of Trenton (1756—1843)
  • John Vanderlyn – American artist, protégé of Aaron Burr (1775—1852)
  • Benjamin West – American-born painter who moved to England in 1763 (1738—1820)

The failure of the Loyalists to flock to the royal standard cannot be understood without appreciating how effectively they had been locked down and neutralized by the patriots. Loyalists could not buy, sell, or bequeath property or other assets. They were barred from all legal recourse to recover debts or redress any other injury. They could not practice law or teach unless they had taken an oath of allegiance to the cause. They could not be executors of estates or be a guardian to a child. Any person who wrote, or spoke, or by any act libeled or defamed Congress ... should be brought to trial.

— Michael Stephenson
Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought (2007)