Ralph Earl was an American artist active during the American colonial and revolutionary period. Producing mainly oil on canvas, Earl became especially famous for his portraiture of distinguished people of the period. Ralph Earl was a painter born in Massachusetts. Coming from a Quaker family and aligned to be the owner of a farming business, Earl chose a rather unusual job for an 18th-century north-American: a portrait painter. While highly influenced by British painting, his work became a pioneer in the search for an American aesthetic identity. His son, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl, provided the most iconic images of Andrew Jackson and cemented his persona in the imagination of the American people.
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Ralph Earl
Ralph Earl was an American artist active during the American colonial and revolutionary period. Producing mainly oil on canvas, Earl became especially famous for his portraiture of distinguished people of the period. Ralph Earl was a painter born in Massachusetts. Coming from a Quaker family and aligned to be the owner of a farming business, Earl chose a rather unusual job for an 18th-century north-American: a portrait painter. While highly influenced by British painting, his work became a pioneer in the search for an American aesthetic identity. His son, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl, provided the most iconic images of Andrew Jackson and cemented his persona in the imagination of the American people.
Early Life
Ralph Earl was born in May 1751, probably in either Leicester or Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He was the son of Ralph Earle with Phebe Whittemore Earl and was the oldest of four children. The Earl family were originally Quakers who immigrated from England to Rhode Island in 1634 and later settling in the region of Massachusetts.
Since Ralph Earl was the oldest son, he was supposed to inherit the family's farming business, which he did not. Instead, the artist decided to travel around New England to pursue a career as a painter.
A Painter in a Colonial Land
By 1774, Earl was already working as a portrait painter in New Haven, Connecticut. During the same year, he returned to Leicester to marry his second cousin, Sarah Gates. Phebe, their daughter, was born a few months later. Earl would leave them both with Sarah's parents so he could return to New Haven and continue to paint portraits.
In this period, Earl was able to make a name for himself as an artist, not only working with portrait painting but also illustrating family coats of arms and any kind of commission that he could take. Like several colonial artisans, Earl was self-taught and an itinerant painter for many years.
In 1775, Earl visited Lexington and Concord, which had recently taken place the first military engagements of the American Revolution. He drew four battle scenes in collaboration with Amos Doolittle, which would later be made into pro-Revolutionary propaganda. This was ironic, since Earl himself was a Loyalist to the British crown, even though his father was a Revolutionary Army colonel. Doolittle was a prolific printmaker, and their work together exemplifies the first artworks depicting events related to US history.
In 1776, both his wife and daughter joined him in New Haven, living together until their second child, John, was born. Sarah later would attest that this brief six month period was the only time they kept the family together. She rightfully resented Earl for his distance from the family, and in the Games family records, she is documented calling him a Tory.
Ralph Earl became acquainted with Henry Pelham, and through him, he had access to John Singleton Copley's oeuvre, Pelham's half brother. Copley was one of the most respected painters of the colonial United States and eventually left his homeland and family to go to England, benefiting from the admiration that Sir Joshua Reynolds nurtured towards his work. Coincidentally or not, Ralph Earl did the same thing himself in the next few years.
Arriving in England
In 1777, to escape to England, Earl disguised himself as a servant of a British army captain, leaving behind his wife and daughter. He denied for months his father's request to join the revolutionary army. It was Captain John Money, stationed at Saratoga, who took Earl with him. Captain Money housed Ralph Earl in Norwich when they arrived and was his first patron in British land.
Ralph Earl moved to London in 1785. Earl entered Benjamin West's studio, where he portrayed the King and many other distinguished members of society. He was exposed to the Great Manner, the historical and grandiose style of Joshua Reynolds, and even served as his assistant for some time. Despite this, some art historians affirm that Thomas Gainsborough's work with portrait and landscape left a lasting impression on Earl.
Earl moved back to the city of Norwich, establishing himself with the financial help of Captain Money. There he continued to paint portraits and met Ann Whiteside, daughter of Captain Money's neighbor. They married, despite the artist never ended his first marriage with Sarah Gates. By 1786, Earl returned to the United States along with his wife. John Money would later befriend Earl's son.
Re-establishing in the United States
Back in the United States, Earl and Ann spent some time in New York City. With a clientele that had a refined taste, his work became more intensively influenced by British art. Sadly, he wasn't able to make a good profit in the city, and at the end of 1786, he was sent to prison because of debt.
Ann Whiteside had to work for herself during those years, but Earl had considerable freedom in prison: he was allowed to paint, and his wife visited him often. Fortunately, painting in jail allowed him to save enough money so he could pay his debt and leave prison. He developed the habit of drinking while in jail, tarnishing, even more, his reputation since he was considered a coward for fleeing the US during a time of need.
Later Years and Death
Feeling that New York was a place with too much competition and not enough clientele, the Earls left the city and went back to New England. Dr. Mason Fitch Cogswell, a physician, was the patron that helped Earl leave and re-establish himself in the Connecticut River Valley. Since all significant painters were located in New York, Ralph Earl was a precursor in this region and seen as the founding figure of what was later called the Connecticut School.
His son, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl, would also become a painter. Earl certainly taught him how to paint, with a sharp focus, clear lines, and the taste for grandiosity, all of which were passed from father to son. Ralph was considered a court painter for President Andrew Jackson. Earl may have also influenced his nephew Augustus Earle, who was noted as the first European artist to travel through all five continents. Earl's brother, James, was also a portrait painter.
Ralph Earl died in August 1801, in Bolton, Connecticut. Although uncertain, it is believed that the cause of his death was due to complications from alcohol abuse.
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