Hidden Herstory! Did you know that this woman, Sarah Miriam Peale (1800-1885), had a studio inside the Peale building? Sarah, who was affectionately called “Sally” by her family, began coming to Baltimore to study with her cousin Rembrandt when she was 17 years old. The cousins used several rooms on the third floor as their painting studios. The rooms needed extra tall doors to move large canvases in and out. The oversized window (now in the restroom on the third floor) is north facing, which would have provided the perfect light for the painting studio before the building was added next door.
“. . . you will be surprised to see how much Sally is improving. Consequently she will become more industrious and I think it is very probable that she will find employment in Baltemore [sic].”
Rembrandt Peale, letter to his father Charles Willson Peale, Dec. 16, 1819
Bringing Sarah’s story to today . . . a still life that Sarah painted in 1822 just sold at auction for $277,200–a record for Sarah, one of the first professional women artists in the United States. (See the embedded story below). She’s still making history!
The original portrait is at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. We have a replica portrait (seen above) in the Peale Gallery, here at the museum! You can learn more about the Peale family and the architecture of the building in this audio tour, narrated by WYPR’s Aaron Henkin.
