(b Philadelphia, PA, 19 May 1800; d Philadelphia, PA, 4 Feb 1885). Painter, daughter of (2) James Peale. The most notable of James Peale’s painting daughters, she also studied with her uncle (1) Charles Willson Peale and her cousin (4) Rembrandt Peale, from whom she developed her talent for colour and precision in details. As studio assistant to her father, she occasionally introduced into his work bright and intricate fabrics. Her career began in 1817 with the exhibition of Flowers at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In the 1820s she painted in Baltimore and Philadelphia; in 1824 she was elected to the Pennsylvania Academy. From 1831 to 1846 she maintained her studio in Baltimore where she was a popular portrait painter, producing unpretentious but intelligent and occasionally romantic portraits characterized by a fine concern for materials, as in Mrs Perry Eccleston Noel (c. 1822; Baltimore, Mus. & Lib. MD Hist.). Her sitters included such prominent politicians as Daniel Webster (1842; St Louis, MO Hist. Soc. Mus.) and Abel Park Upshur (1842; Baltimore, Mus. & Lib. MD Hist.). In 1847 Sarah moved to St Louis, MO, where for 32 years she was in great demand. From 1859 her still-lifes won prizes at the St Louis fairs; they were loosely painted works different from the tightly controlled table-top pieces of her father and sister. Sarah’s portraiture also changed, from the elegant, precise Neo-classicism learnt from her cousin Rembrandt to a looser, easier handling. In 1878 Sarah returned to Philadelphia to spend her last years with her sisters. She was the first successful woman artist in America and, with her sister (6) Anna Peale, the first to achieve full professional standing.

Part of the Peale family