Art Talk: Rembrandt Peale

Last week we started the month off with a Portrait Tour of the National Gallery of Art in DC. Now I would like to discuss one of the artist talked about in that tour, Rembrandt Peale

Rembrandt Peale was born into a family of artists. His father Charles Wilson Peale was an American artist most famous for his portraiture, especially of the founding fathers. He also established one of the first museums in the United States. Charles named most of his children after his favorite artists- Raphaelle, Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens and many of his children went on to become artists.

It was in this home that Rembrandt was born in 1778 in Pennsylvania. Rembrandt began drawing at the age of 8 and did his first self portrait at the age of 13. At the age of 18 Rembrandt painted George Washington for the first time. At the age of 23 Rembrandt painted the picture below of his brother Rubens and with a geranium.

This is one of my favorite portraits in the National Gallery.

Rembrandt Peale
Rubens Peale with a Geranium, 1801

From the Portrait Tour about the painting

The reason I like this painting so much is the tenderness brother painted brother. Here we see Rubens at the age of 17 years old with his geranium which is "reputed to be the first specimen of this exotic plant ever grown in the new world."
Some call this a double portrait.
This brings me back to my question from the tour?
Can a portrait be of something that is not a person?
I think so. The plant is carefully painted like his brother. The care Rembrandt took in painting his brother is evident and the loving care and touch of Rubens for his geranium.

Rembrandt studied in London at the Royal Academy and with Benjamin West. He also lived and painted in Paris. At the age of 36 he opened a museum and portrait gallery in Baltimore, Maryland. He sold the museum 8 years later. It is now known as the Peale Museum. He painted 76 replicas of his painting of George Washington he did while he was young. He died at the age of 82 in Philadelphia having completed more than 600 paintings many being famous, wealthy and influential people at the start of the United States.

Britannica- Charles Wilson Peale
Wikipedia- Charles Wilson Peale
NGA-Rubens Peale with a Geranium
Britannica- Rembrant Peale