The Art of Colonial America

by Roseanna White

Today I thought I'd do something different (for me) and present a visual post. Below you'll find some paintings done in Colonial America...a few of figures you'll recognize, and a few that simply caught me eye. Like this one.

The above is Portrait of Deborah Hall, painted by William Williams in 1766.

This is a more familiar subject. Paul Revere was painted between 1768 and 1770 by John Singleton Copley. Of course, at this point is history, Revere was known mostly for his silver smithing...and not for any midnight rides.

Planter and his Wife, with a Servant is circa 1780, by Italian painter Agostino Brunias.

Portrait of a Woman by American painter John Feke, circa 1748.

Another by John Singlton Copley, this one done in England in 1778, when Copley had fled America to avoid the tension between his Whig and Tory patrons. This is Mrs. John Montresor.

And finally, I'll give you one of George Washington. There are so many to choose from, but I figured I'd go with one I used in my research of Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland. Painted by John Trumbull, this is his immortalization of Washington resigning his commission once the war was finally, officially over in 1783. In my story, Lark was one of those women up in the balcony. ;-) (In the painting, Martha Washington and other family members are pictured behind him. In reality, they were still in Virginia. Artistic license...)