Robert Feke

Robert Feke (1705?-1750?), one of the leading American colonial portraitists of the 18th century. He was born on Long Island, New York. Scholars disagree about the details of his life prior to 1741, when he painted his first and largest portrait, Family of Isaac Royall (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts). The painting is representative of much of his work: It is a rigidly organized, flat composition showing a sober Puritan family group. It appears that Feke did most of his work during the 1740s in Boston, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Later he departed for the West Indies, and the details of his life again become obscure. About 15 of his signed and dated portraits are known, and scholars believe that approximately 50 additional paintings can be attributed to him. Feke's paintings are important not for their psychological penetration—most of his faces are relatively wooden and unindividualized—but for their striking use of rich color and their faithful rendering of the textures of satins, velvets, and brocades.