John Meer

Rembrandt was the son of the well-known Neoclassical portraitist, Charles Willson Peale, who used his influence to launch his children's careers as artists. In 1795, Charles used his connections to get 17-year-old Rembrandt a sitting with the growing American legend George Washington. Rembrandt would later paint many portraits of Washington, as well as of Thomas Jefferson.

The younger Peale enjoyed a long, prosperous career, creating likenesses of the most distinguished members of Colonial American society. Due to heavy demand, he often relied on studio assistants. Consequently, the mature work can seem slightly formulaic. However, this early work, probably done at about the same time that the precocious young artist was introduced to Washington, has a refreshing liveliness.

The sitter is captured as though directly engaging us. He points to a skull, which is typically used as a symbol of human mortality. Scholars have not yet determined if the prominent skull refers to the sitter's aid of victims of the yellow fever epidemic that struck Philadelphia in 1793. Meer's wife died of the disease. However, skulls in portraits are more generally a sign of a learned, spiritual, or philosophical person. In 1804, Meer served as the president of the Society of Artists and Manufacturers in Philadelphia, and he was the regulator of weights and measures in that city from 1809-1818. He also recieved patents for printing and bookbinding.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Owned by Mr. John Meer. Acquired by Mr. Riter Fitzgerald, Philadelphia; purchased by Harriet Deacon, Baltimore, May 1899; inherited by Mrs. Mary Caroline Hood Mohr (later Mrs. John H. Lewin, Jr.); inherited by Dr. David Painter Mohr; inherited by Jennifer H. Moon, Ph.D., Tuscon, Arizona, 2004; given to Walters Art Museum, 2007.

[1] Mrs. William Painter, and great-great granddaughter of John Meer