Edward Savage (artist)
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
portrait painter and engraver. He was born in Princeton
Princeton, Massachusetts
Princeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States.It is bordered on the east by Sterling and Leominster, on the north by Westminster, on the northwest by Hubbardston, on the southwest by Rutland, and on the southeast by Holden....
, Mass.
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and at first worked as a goldsmith, also practicing engraving. Although seemingly untrained in painting, he came into prominence in 1790 through his portrait of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, intended as a gift to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. In 1791 he visited London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he studied for a time under Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, and then went to Italy. Upon his return to the United States in 1794, he practiced in Philadelphia and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, maintaining for several years a picture gallery and art museum on Water Street in New York.
Robert Edge Pine
Robert Edge Pine
Robert Edge Pine was an English portrait and historical painter, born in London. He was the son of John Pine, the engraver, and probably his pupil....
began the first representation of "Congress Voting Independence" (Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia) in 1784, but it was unfinished at his death. Savage completed the painting in 1801, and mass-produced the image as a mezzotint. Its portraits of Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
, Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
, and Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
are highly esteemed. Savage is principally known, however, for a large portrait group, "The Washington Family
The Washington Family
The Washington Family by Edward Savage is a life-sized group portrait of U. S. President George Washington, First Lady Martha Washington, two of her grandchildren, and an enslaved servant. Based on life studies made early in Washington's presidency, Savage began the work in New York City, 1789-90,...
" (begun 1789, completed 1796), portraying President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, First Lady Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
, two of her grandchildren, George Washington Parke Custis
George Washington Parke Custis
George Washington Parke Custis , the step-grandson of United States President George Washington, was a nineteenth-century American writer, orator, and agricultural reformer.-Family:...
and Eleanor Parke Custis, and an enslaved servant, probably Christopher Sheels
Christopher Sheels
Christopher Sheels , was a "dower" slave at George Washington's Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, who was owned by the estate of Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis...
. The painting was in the collection formed by William F. Havemeyer, New York, until bought by Andrew Mellon and donated to the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington, DC.
Publications
- C. H. HartCharles Henry HartCharles Henry Hart was an American author, born in Philadelphia.He was admitted to the bar in 1868 and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania the next spring. He practiced law until 1894, after which he gave his attention to literature and art...
, in Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, 1905)