Edward Savage

Born in Massachusetts in 1761, he was a self-taught painter who became a successful portraitist of American founding fathers and played a key role in popularizing printmaking in early American art.¹

In 1789, he had the opportunity to paint President George Washington from life. This success established his reputation and served as the foundation for his masterpiece, 'The Washington Family.'¹

In 1791, he traveled to London to study under Benjamin West, where he mastered advanced printmaking techniques like mezzotint and stipple engraving, incorporating refined European styles into his later work.¹

The instruction he received from Benjamin West in London dramatically improved Savage's skills. West, then president of the Royal Academy, provided connections and knowledge that fueled Savage's success in America.¹

In 1794, he opened the Columbian Gallery in New York, one of America's first private art museums, exhibiting his own works alongside natural history specimens and copies of European masters.¹

Around 1795, he moved to Philadelphia, where he completed the engraving of 'The Washington Family.' Working in the then-capital of the U.S. helped solidify his work's status as a political symbol.¹

His masterpiece 'The Washington Family,' painted between 1789 and 1796, depicts the family at Mount Vernon and became a widely popular symbol of harmony and stability in the new American nation.¹

Active in Boston and New York until his death in Princeton in 1817, he left a significant mark on early American visual culture as a portraitist, engraver, and museum proprietor.¹