American painter (1769?1819)
Robert Field
(1769?1819) was a painter who was born in
London
and died in
Kingston, Jamaica
. According to art historian
Daphne Foskett
, author of
A Dictionary of British Miniature Painters
(1972), Field was "one of the best American
miniaturists
of his time." During Field's time in
Nova Scotia
at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he was the most professionally trained painter in present-day
Canada
.
[1]
He worked in the conventional neo-classic portrait style of
Henry Raeburn
and
Gilbert Stuart
.
[2]
His most famous works are two groups of miniatures of
George Washington
, commissioned by his wife
Martha Washington
. (Field's miniatures of both are in the
Yale University Art Gallery
permanent collection.)
America
[
edit
]
He received his early training at Royal Academy schools in
London
in 1790. In 1794, he moved to the United States, first living in Baltimore before taking up residence in
Philadelphia
, the nation's first capital.
[3]
In Philadelphia, Field immediately joined a group of artists led by
Charles Willson Peale
in establishing the Columbianum, or
American Academy of the Fine Arts
, which was eventually superseded by the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
in 1805.
Field spent 14 years in the U.S., working as a miniature painter in
Baltimore
, Philadelphia,
Washington, D.C.
, and
Boston
. During this period, he produced miniatures of
George
and
Martha Washington
,
Thomas Jefferson
, and a wide range of people prominent in the social, economic, and political life of American society.
[2]
According to historian
Harry Piers
, Field was one of the four most highly sought American miniaturists in his time. Martha Washington herself commissioned Field in 1800 to paint a group of miniature as mementoes for friends and family, to commemorate the revered General and President on the first anniversary of his death. Two groups of miniatures of George Washington were produced by Field at Martha's request in late 1800, the first group showing him in civilian dress, the second as general in full uniform.
[4]
Nova Scotia
[
edit
]
When tensions between America and England started to rise in the lead up to the
War of 1812
, Field remained a
loyalist
and moved from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia (1808). He served in the 1st Company of Halifax Volunteer Artillery in 1812.
[5]
He became a member of the
Charitable Irish Society of Halifax
.
[6]
He continued to produce miniatures, but he also painted oil portraits of government officials, military officers, merchants, and assorted members of the Halifax "gentility"; among his subjects were Bishop Charles Inglis, former lieutenant governor Sir
John Wentworth
, Sir
George Prevost
, Sir
John Coape Sherbrooke
, Admiral of the Fleet Sir
Provo William Parry Wallis
, and Sir
Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane
, vice-admiral in the Royal Navy (whose portrait was shown at the Royal Academy exhibition in London in 1810).
[2]
It was with Wentworth's patronage that Field set up his portrait studio, located in a bookshop.
[3]
In his only eight years in the city, he painted perhaps as many as 150 full-scale and miniature portraits.
[3]
Jamaica
[
edit
]
In 1816 he moved to
Jamaica
, settling first in
Montego Bay
and then in
Kingston
. He died on 9 August 1819, apparently of
yellow fever
, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the old "West Ground" cemetery, now called the Strangers' Burial Ground, near the Kingston parish church.
[2]
Gallery
[
edit
]
Other works
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|