(1741 - 1827)
Charles Willson Peale was born in Chester, Maryland, on the east coast of the USA. He initially trained as a sadler but, after going bankrupt, studied painting under John Hesselius and John Singleton Copley. He later travelled to London to receive tuition from American émigré Benjamin West, returning to Maryland in 1767. By 1777, he was a Captain in the Pennsylvania militia and was at the front line during the Battle of Princeton. He is therefore one of the few artists of a battle scene to have also served in the same conflict. Peale painted Washington more times than any other artist. His earliest version is now in the collection of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, although he made an estimated 18 replicas in total.
