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Mrs. John Nicholson (Hannah Duncan) and John Nicholson, Jr.
Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741–1827)
1790
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 91.5 × 69.3 cm (36 × 27 5/16 in.)
- Culture
- Philadelphia
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Charles Willson Peale was a prominent figure in the cultural and scientific life of Philadelphia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He established his own museum dedicated to the arts and natural sciences and helped found the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1805. Mrs. John Nicholson (Hannah Duncan) and John Nicholson, Jr. is a tender portrait of mother and child. The natural backdrop and sprig of flowers in the boy’s hand signal a domestic bond. Mrs. Nicholson’s uncorseted dress and freely coiffed hair (without a wig) likewise speak to the humanistic ideals of the Enlightenment.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
