James Earl

James Earl
BornMay 1, 1761
Leicester, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Thirteen Colonies
DiedAugust 18, 1796(1796-08-18) (aged 35)
Charleston, South Carolina, US
EducationRoyal Academy of Arts
SpouseGeorgiana Caroline Pilkington
Children3, including
Relatives

James Earl (May 1, 1761 – August 18, 1796) was an American painter active in London.

Biography

Rebecca Pritchard Mills and Her Daughter Eliza Shrewsbury (1794)

Earl was born May 1, 1761, in Leicester, Province of Massachusetts Bay (present-day Massachusetts) to Ralph Earl and Phebe Whittemore Earl. The younger brother of the painter Ralph Earl, Earl was uncle of painter Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl.

On March 24, 1789, Earl enrolled at the Royal Academy of Arts and is known to have been in England by 1787. His British clientele were mostly Loyalists living in exile, though there is no evidence that he was a committed Loyalist himself. Among his best known works are Rebecca Pritchard Mills and Her Daughter Eliza Shrewsbury (ca. 1795) and a portrait of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

Personal life

Earl married Georgiana Caroline Pilkington (1759–1838), the daughter of the Irish writer and singer John Carteret Pilkington. The couple had three children, including the painters Phoebe Dighton and Augustus Earle. Earl was the step-father of two children from his wife's previous relationship, including the naval officer and surveyor William Henry Smyth.

On August 18, 1796, Earl died in Charleston, South Carolina of yellow fever.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Simpkiss, Jane (9 July 2026). "Dighton [née Earl, Earle; second married name MacIntyre], Phoebe (1790–1863), fruit and flower painter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382871. Retrieved 21 July 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ "Early American Paintings". Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  3. ↑ Stewart, Robert G. (1988). "James Earl: American Painter of Loyalists and His Career in England". American Art Journal. 20 (4): 35–58. doi:10.2307/1594526. ISSN 0002-7359. JSTOR 1594526.