EARL, Ralph - b. 1751 Shrewsbury, d. 1801 Bolton

American painter, active in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont, and also in England (1778-85), when his loyalty to the British put his life in danger in his homeland. He painted landscapes and battle scenes of the Revolution, but was primarily a portraitist. Although his style became softer and more sophisticated after studying with West in London, his work generally has a sincerity and freshness of vision that makes him one of the finest American artists of the 18th century. His presentation of character is extremely forthright and his portraits convey the immense pride his New England sitters took in their possessions. Earl’s personal life was a disaster. He was imprisoned for debt and died an alcoholic after deserting both of his wives in turn. Other members of his family were artists, notably his brother James (1761-96) and his son Ralph E. W. Earl (c. 1785-1838).

Elijah Boardman

Ralph Earl was one of the foremost American painters of the late 18th century. Elijah Boardman was a prosperous textile merchant who fought in the Revolutionary War and eventually became a United States senator. Earl has provided clues to the background and personality of the sitter by posing him in a room of his dry-goods store at a stand-up desk and bookcase. The horizontal and vertical patterns created by the bolts of cloth and the books enliven the picture. This and other Connecticut portraits represent the finest period of Earl’s work, blending a straightforward realism with the polished grace that the artist acquired during his years abroad.