Robert Feke (
c. 1705 –
c. 1752) was an American portrait painter born in
Oyster Bay, New York. According to art historian Richard Saunders, "Feke’s impact on the development of Colonial painting was substantial, and his pictures set a new standard by which the work of the next generation of aspiring Colonial artists was judged."[1] In total, about 60 paintings by Feke survive, twelve of which are signed and dated.[1]
Life and career
One of Robert Feke's grandmothers was
Elizabeth Fones (Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett).
[2]
Little is known for certain about his life, particularly his early years. Only one work by Feke, a portrait of a child, is datable before 1741.[1] In that year he moved to Boston, where he painted Isaac Royall and Family (1741), a group portrait which borrows its composition from
John Smybert’s The Bermuda Group (1729).[1] Feke's works also show the influence of
John Wollaston.
From 1741 until 1750, Feke worked in Boston,
Newport, Rhode Island, and
Philadelphia, painting wealthy merchants and landowners.[3] The latest record of his activities is August 26, 1751;[1] suggestions by Feke's early biographers that he died in
Barbados or
Bermuda have not been substantiated.[1]
Myron, Robert, and Abner Sundell. (1969). Art in America from colonial days through the nineteenth century. London: Crowell-Collier Press.
National Museum of American Art (U.S.), & Kloss, W. (1985). Treasures from the National Museum of American Art. Washington: National Museum of American Art.
ISBN0874745950
References
^
abcdefSaunders, Richard H. "Robert Feke". Oxford Art Online. Retrieved July 15, 2012
^Wolfe, Missy (2012). Insubordinate Spirit: A True Story of Life and Loss in Earliest America, 1610-1665. p. 197.
John Singleton Copley in America, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Robert Feke (see index)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Feke.