Freake Painter

Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and Baby Mary by the Freake Painter

The Freake Painter (fl. 1670s), also known as the Freake Limner and the Freake-Gibbs Painter, was an anonymous American portrait painter who has been described as "North America's first major artist".[1][2][3][4]

About ten portraits, all painted between 1670 and 1674 and showing residents of Boston, have been attributed to the Freake Painter.[2] It has been suggested that the artist might be identified as Samuel Clement (1635–78), the son of Augustine Clement who had arrived in New England in 1635 having previously trained as a painter in England.[1]

His work Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary appeared on a United States Postal Service postage stamp in 1998, one of a series celebrating "Four Centuries of American Art".[5]

  1. ^ a b Fairbanks, Jonathan L. (2011). "Freake painter". In Marter, Joan (ed.). The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195335798. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Unidentified artist (17th century)". Early American Paintings. Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  3. ^ Morgan, Ann Lee (2018). "Freake Painter". The Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists (2nd ed.). Oxford UP. ISBN 978-0-19-180767-1.
  4. ^ Adams, Henry (3 September 2021). "Freake Out!". The Magazine Antiques. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  5. ^ "32c "Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and Baby Mary" single". postalmuseum.si.edu. Smithsonian: National Postal Museum. 1998. Retrieved 9 June 2022.