Art Institute of Chicago

Mrs. John Nicholson (Hannah Duncan) and John Nicholson, Jr.

Charles Willson Peale (American, 1741–1827)

Date

1790

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

Philadelphia

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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