Charles Willson Peale
Richard Gittings, Sr.
1788
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 36 × 27 in. (91.4 × 68.6 cm.)
Framed: 42 1/4 × 32 5/8 in. (107.3 × 82.9 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of D. Sterett Gittings
Object Number
1948.12
Noted for patriotic likenesses of revolutionary leaders, Charles Willson Peale also created memorable images of leading private citizens. He depicted Richard Gittings (1763-1830) as a typical representative of the mercantile class that supported the arts in Maryland. Gittings was a prosperous Baltimore merchant and ship owner. A leather-bound book and assorted papers, marked “Ship” and “Bills of Lading,” litter the table next to him, litter the table next to him, indicating the sources of his prosperity.
Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1948; David Sterett Gittings (1861-1948), Baltimore, MD by descent, 1884; Richard J. (1830-1882) and Victoria Gittings (1833-1884), Worcester, MD by descent, 1887; David (1797-1887) and Julianna W.H. Gittings (1797-1847), Worcester, MD by descent, 1847; Richard J. Gittings (1763-1830) and Mary "Polly" Sterett (1772-1847)(m. November 30, 1788), Baltimore, MD by commission, 1788
Fifth Regiment Armory, Baltimore, Art Loan Exhibition under the auspices of The Municipal Art Society of Baltimore, Mar. 3-29, 1902, p. 59.
"Friends of Art," Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Homewood Exhibition, June 9-24, 1928.
PM, Baltimore, "Exhibition of Fourteen Portraits by Charles Willson Peale at The Municipal Museum," Apr. 1932 (lent by David Sterett Gittings, 4th).
BMA, "Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland," May 11-June 17, 1945, p. 21, no. 23.
BMA, "Maryland Heritage," Apr. 2o-June 20, 1976, p. 78, no. 38, ill.
"Friends of Art," Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Homewood Exhibition, June 9-24, 1928.
PM, Baltimore, "Exhibition of Fourteen Portraits by Charles Willson Peale at The Municipal Museum," Apr. 1932 (lent by David Sterett Gittings, 4th).
BMA, "Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Painting in Maryland," May 11-June 17, 1945, p. 21, no. 23.
BMA, "Maryland Heritage," Apr. 2o-June 20, 1976, p. 78, no. 38, ill.
Sellers, Charles Coleman. "Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale," Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1952, pp. 88-89, no. 302, ill. no. 217
Johnston, Sona K. "American Painting 1750-1900 from the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," 1983, p. 113, ill. p. 114
Inscribed: l.r., "C.W. Peale / Paint:d 1788"
On View: American Wing Second Floor, Scott 07
