FEATURED OBJECT

Margaretta Angelica Peale (1795-1882)

Still Life with Strawberries and Cherries

Margaretta Angelica Peale came from a distinguished family of artists. Her father, James Peale (1749-1831) was a still life and miniature painter. Her uncle, Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) was a noted portraitist and founded the Philadelphia Museum, one of the first museums in the United States. Her cousins—including Raphaelle, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, and Angelica Kaufman—were all named for great European artists to encourage their pursuit of painting. Her sisters, Anna Claypoole Peale (1791-1878) and Sarah Miriam Peale (1800-1885), were both established artists.

Margaretta Angelica, on the other hand, was late to join the family business of art-making. She received some instruction from her father, but did not seriously begin painting until well into her 30s. Her early attempts at still life were copies after the work of other family members. In the 1820s and 1830s, she exhibited her works publicly, many titled simply “Fruit Piece.” Then, her interest seems to wane until the 1860s.

Her pursuit of painting may have been reenergized by the return to Philadelphia of her cousin Rubens (1784-1865) and his daughter Mary Jane (1827-1902). After Rubens’ wife, Eliza, died in the fall of 1864, he and Mary Jane moved back to the city from their farm near Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. Both were active artists working in still life in 1864 and 1865.

During this period, Margaretta Angelica produced several paintings focused on an arrangement in a central dish. These smaller scale scenes are somewhat square in format and include stark, neutral backgrounds to better showcase the brightly colored fruit. In each, the perspective is slightly distorted and the ledge appears to tip precariously towards the viewer, as if enticing them to grab the ripe cherry just on the edge.

Still Life with Strawberries and Cherries is on view on the museum’s 2^nd floor in our newly reinstalled Peale gallery.