Winterthur recently acquired eight rare works of art and a series of personal correspondence, nearly all from the collection of artist Mary Jane Peale (1827–1902), bolstering the museum’s already distinguished Peale family holdings ahead of a major exhibition of these works scheduled for 2027.
The acquisition brings to Winterthur a number of firsts: its first miniature by Anna Claypoole Peale, its first work by Rubens Peale, its first Peale landscape, and the first portraits of Mary Jane, Rubens, and Charles Willson Peale to enter the collection. Together, these objects deepen Winterthur’s capacity to tell a fuller, more equitable story of one of America’s most consequential artistic dynasties.
Led by portrait painter Charles Willson Peale, the first family of American art included his brothers, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren, including Mary Jane, as well as Moses Williams, a formerly enslaved artist who made thousands of silhouettes for visitors to Peale’s Philadelphia Museum, which Charles founded in 1784.
Winterthur’s already impressive lineup of Peale material now numbers about fifty paintings and works on paper, along with a rich archive of Peale letters, manuscripts, and photographs. The collection consists of works purchased by museum founder Henry Francis du Pont with strengths in colonial and Revolutionary portraiture by Charles Willson and his brother James Peale.
The new acquisitions build directly on that foundation, adding works that span portraiture, landscape, silhouette, and a miniature, across multiple generations and branches of the extended Peale family. They include the following:
- Portrait of Mary Jane Peale (1859) by Rembrandt Peale is a self-commissioned portrait Mary Jane ordered from her uncle to support her own art studies.
- Portrait of Mrs. Rubens Peale, née Eliza Burd Patterson (ca. 1820) by Charles Willson Peale is a portrait of Mary Jane’s mother, Eliza, painted by her father-in-law to mark her marriage to Rubens Peale.
- Portrait of Rubens Peale with Spectacles (before 1829) by his niece Anna Claypoole Peale is a watercolor-on-ivory miniature and the museum’s first work by this celebrated Peale woman artist.
- View of Juniata River (1860) by Rubens Peale is an oil-on-canvas landscape with an original artist-made frame (1860). This is Winterthur’s first Peale landscape.
- Portrait of George Peale Wearing a Black Coat Over a White Stock and Blue Bow-Knot (before 1858) by Mary Jane Peale is an oil-on-mother-of-pearl miniature of her artist brother George, a rare and delicate example of her work in miniature.
- Three silhouettes with Peale family provenance, including two by Moses Williams (1776–1830), one of which depicts Charles Willson Peale, mark a significant addition to Winterthur’s holdings related to the formerly enslaved silhouette artist.
before 1858. Oil on mother-of-pearl. Museum purchase with funds drawn from the Centenary Fund. 2026.0006.005
Re-examining the Story of American Art’s First Family
The timing of the acquisition is fortuitous, as planning is well underway for Becoming Peale, scheduled to run September 18, 2027–January 9, 2028.
Featuring Winterthur’s collection of Peale art and archival treasures assembled for the first time on a large scale, this groundbreaking exhibition will reveal how each generation redefined the act of Becoming Peale.
Curated by Dr. Kedra Kearis, associate curator of arts and visual culture, the exhibition harnesses a growing interest in the art of the Peale women and Moses Williams by bringing their contributions into closer view. Winterthur, in collaboration with the University of Delaware, is conducting technical studies on paintings by the Peale women and the cut profile work of Moses Williams, including the new acquisitions.
The exhibition will feature paintings and works on paper from the Winterthur collection, alongside costumes, furniture, and decorative arts objects that will illuminate the family’s creative legacy across time, place, and medium. It will also include more than sixty additional pieces on loan from public institutions and private individuals, several of which have never been publicly exhibited. Together, these works will offer a richer, more comprehensive retelling of the artistic legacy of the multigenerational Peale family.
“Until recent years, many contributions by lesser-known Peales have been overlooked. Some of the Peale women have been identified as assistants or copyists. In actuality, they had their own established artistic practices,” said Kearis. “My goal is to give voice to the underrepresented artists of this famous family. This is where Mary Jane Peale, Moses Williams, and other marginal figures of the Peale circle will step forward.”
Museum purchase with funds drawn from the Centenary Fund. 2026.0006.003 A
The seven letters between Rembrandt Peale and his niece Mary Jane offer rare primary-source documentation of a practicing woman artist working within a family art dynasty. Together with the portrait commission they describe, the letters will anchor one of the exhibition’s central narratives. The letters also build on the Winterthur Library’s strong holdings documenting art and artists in early America.
Explore the artistic legacy of the Peale family of painters with Dr. Kedra Kearis, associate curator of arts and visual culture in the upcoming Curator’s Salon Series scheduled for October 11.