1772

Portrait of John and Elizabeth Lloyd Cadwalader and Their Daughter Anne

American, 1741 - 1827

In 1770 Philadelphia merchant John Cadwalader and his wife Elizabeth, a wealthy Maryland heiress, commissioned five family portraits for their Second Street house. They chose artist Charles Willson Peale, who had recently returned from training with renowned history painter Benjamin West in London. The centerpiece of the series was this conversation piece in which the sitters engage with each other rather than the viewer—the latest fashion in grand manner British portraiture.