George Taylor II

Rembrandt Peale

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

This likeness of George Taylor II, a descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, shows influences from both France and the United States. Rembrandt Peale admired the refined portrait style of such Neoclassical French painters as Baron Gérard. The subtle transitions in color and tone in Taylor’s head and hands reflect the impact of Gérard’s fine modeling and distinctive palette.

The composition and details of this work suggest the American colonial and Federal portraits among which Peale had been raised. The setting—an open-air, stone alcove with a landscape scene—may well have been fictionalized, since similar views appeared with some regularity in American portraits of the colonial period.

Caption

Rembrandt Peale American, 1778–1860. George Taylor II, 1811. Oil on canvas, 57 5/16 × 35 7/8 in. (145.5 × 91.2 cm) frame: 65 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (165.7 × 112.4 × 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Eliza Herriman Griffith, 12.85. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 12.85_SL1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

George Taylor II

Date

1811

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

57 5/16 × 35 7/8 in. (145.5 × 91.2 cm) frame: 65 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 3/4 in. (165.7 × 112.4 × 7 cm)

Signatures

Unsigned

Credit Line

Gift of the Estate of Eliza Herriman Griffith

Accession Number

12.85

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Who is this boy?

    This painting is the work of Rembrandt Peale, and it's most likely a portrait of George Taylor II, whose family had made their fortune in iron works.
    Peale was influenced by French portraiture and shows the young boy in an elegant and highly idealized manner. I love the gentle detailing of the boy's face. Do you see the two books on the table? Any idea what those might mean about the young boy?
    I can't make out the titles, but I suppose it indicates education and literacy?
    Yep! The books are an allusion to how educated this lucky young man is.

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