Artists

Henry Benbridge born October 1743 [1] died February 1812), early American portrait painter, was born in Philadelphia, the only child of James and Mary (Clark) Benbridge. When he was seven years old, his mother, who had been left a widow, was married to Thomas Gordon, a wealthy Scot. The boy's artistic talent was encouraged. He made decorative...

Matthew Pratt was born in Philadelphia in 1734. He served an apprenticeship with his uncle James Claypoole, a limner and painter, from 1749 to 1755. Pratt opened a similar business which he interrupted with a brief speculative trading voyage to Jamaica. When he returned to Philadelphia he began to paint portraits, at which he proved very...

John Durand's birth and death dates are unknown, and only a few of his portraits are signed and dated. The sketchy chronology of his life is based on these few signed works, as well as on account book entries and information about his sitters. Scholars place his first activity in Virginia in 1765, but by 1766 Durand was in New York City. In that year...

John Hesselius (1728–1778) was a portraitist who worked mostly in Virginia and Maryland. He was the son of the Swedish-born portraitist Gustavus Hesselius. Background John Hesselius was most likely born in Philadelphia, where his father owned a house to satisfy clients. Claims that he was born in Prince Georges County, Maryland are unfounded,...