Artists Illustrating Boys' Fashions: Ralph Earl (United States, 1751-1801)
Figure 1.--Ralph Earl painted this impressive family portrait in Bennington, Vermont during 1798. It is the Noah Smith family showing Mrs. Smith and their five children. Noah Smith was the chief jusdtice of the Vermont Supreme Court. (Henry, Daniel, Noah Jr., Eliza, and Celia). Earl who had improived his skills in England, adopted a simplified which tended to meet the expectatioinx of rural patrons. Notice the bright colored skeleton suits for the yonger boys and white Empire dress for the girl. Mrs. Smith wears fashionable, but plain brownish yellow silk gown. The four older children are set in front of a landscape. Each holds something provoiding an attribute. Most were fairly common. Daniel (second from the left) holds a world map. This suggests an educated family with global ambitions.
Ralph is an important American portratist, providing wonderful images of important Americans and American families in the period following the Revolution. His career is centered on Connecticut. He also did landscapes and Revolutionary War depictions but his portraits are his most notable works. His work is much more nuanced than the naive art more common in America at the time. His striaghtforward portrits are seen as 'very American'. Earl was born in Massachusetts. And was a self-taught naive artist. He was still a young man when the Revolution broke out. He sided with the Loyalist, supoorting the British. As a result, with his life in danger he fled to Britain. An early portrait commissioned there was of 12-year old William Carpenter. Earl while in England dramatically improved his artistic skills. He worked in the studio of Benjamin West, and reportedly painted the king and many notables. After the Revolution he returned to America. In Englnd he was a mediocre artist. In America he would be one of the best portrait painters He returned (1785). Upon arriving in Anerica, he was soon jailed for debts. He managed to gain his freedom by painting portraits of important officials. He then went to Connecticut to restart his career. He quickly developoed a popular reputation. He was both a gifted artist and competent businessmen. His personal life, however, was much less successful. He was prolifiic, there qre more thn 180 known portraits. His realistic portaits were very well received by his clients. He greatly improved his skills while in Englamd, but he modifies his fashionznle Ebglish skills for one more appealing to New England clients' more restrained tastes and pious values. His portraits include very detailed depictions of clothing. We note some portraits of his portraits being attributed to his son Ralph E. W. Earl. His son was also an important early American portraitist. His work combined with that of his son (Ralph E.W. Earl) provide some of the most important images of important families in the earliest period of the American nation. The portrait of Mrs William Mosley and her son Charles on the orevious page is a good example. Charles wears a classic , bright red skeleton suit, a clear illustration of how European fashions dominated American fashions at the time, at least that of the European elite. Earl decided to try to secure portrait coimmissions wih clents that were not located near him. He traveled from his home on Conndcticutg throughout New England. Travel was more comolicated at the time than today. Thus Earl traveling opened customers who had not desire or ability to travel. It was during this trip that he obtined a major commission in Bennington, Vermont. Ot was the most ambitious of his many portrits. It is a large group portrait of Chloe Burrall Smith (1757-1810) with her five children (Henry, Daniel, Noah Jr., Eliza, and Celia). Earl who had improived his skills in England, adopted a simplified which tended to meet the expectatioins of rural patrons. Notice the bright colored skeleton suits for the yonger boys and white Empire dress for the girl. Mrs. Smith wears fashionable, but plain brownish yellow silk gown. The four older children are set in front of a landscape. Each holds something provoiding an attribute. Most were fairly common. Daniel (second from the left) holds a world map. This suggests an educated family with global ambitions. Noah Smith was the chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. For some rason, Earl pinted him departly from his fmily.
