Artist Keywords
John Hesselius

John Hesselius (1728 - 1778) was active/lived in Maryland.  John Hesselius is known for Portrait often full figure.

Born to a Swedish family, John Hesselius became one of the leading portrait painters in the Mid-Atlantic colonies. He is noted as one of the earliest teacher of Charles Willson Peale, who later became one of America's best-known colonial artists and whom Hesselius met at Annapolis in the early 1760s.

He first studied with his father, Gustavus Hesselius, a painter of portraits and religious subjects, but it is not thought that his father had much influence on his style.

The family lived in Philadelphia where he saw the work of portraitist Robert Feke, and this exposure became an ongoing influence as did the painting of John Wollaston, which he saw later in his career when Wollaston was working in the Colonies.

"Charles Calvert", owned by the Baltimore Museum of Art, is his most famous portrait and depicts a five-year old child, attended by black slaves, and posed as a general of military troops. Nearly 100 portraits survive, and it is thought that he also painted   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 1742 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 10 auction lots for John Hesselius (of which 6 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

Artist artworks for sale and wanted

.  There are 0 artworks for sale on our website by galleries and art dealers . There are 1 galleries and art dealers listing works of art by John Hesselius as either "Wanted" or "For Sale" .

Research resources

.  askART lists John Hesselius in 0 of its research Essays. John Hesselius has 0 artist signature examples available in our database.

Similar artists

.  There are 1 similar (related) artists for John Hesselius available:    Charles Willson Peale



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Keywords and Quick Facts for John Hesselius


   Keywords 
Art Method
  • Easel Painting
Art MediaArt Subject
  • Black, African Culture, Figure, Genre, Civil Rights
  • Figure, Figurative Humans
  • Portraits, Portraiture
  • Religion, Mysticism, Spirituality
Geography/Places Lived and/or Worked
  • Colonial America
  • Virginia Before 1900
Chronology
  • 18th Century
Added Description
  • Portrait Specialty
Ethnicity of Artist
  • Swedish
Exhibition of Museum
  • Art Institute of Chicago

The above Keywords are derived from what askART has identified from our research for this artist and are intended as an additional tool for information. Sources include books, periodicals, auction records, family members, friends, and professional researchers. askART has derived Quick Facts as a brief overview; it is not a complete list rather it is a list that is most frequently cited.
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