PAINTING PORTRAITS AND MINIATURES
There comes in every boy’s life a day of great decision; it is when
school days are over, and the boy, face to face with the toiling world,
decides by which branch of industry he shall perform his share of the
world’s work to earn his living. Such a day came to Robert Fulton and he
had prepared himself for it.
His mother’s early lessons, the sterner teaching of Caleb Johnson, the
visits to the machine-shops, the constant sketching with pencil and
crayon,—all had enriched his mind for this day of the choice of vocation.
As he felt the call to a larger field of action than Lancaster afforded,
it was natural that in seeking his fortune he should turn to the nearest
big city, Philadelphia, noted as a center for the peaceful arts of the
gentle Quaker folk, its founders.
Robert Fulton was seventeen years old when he left Lancaster to take up
his abode in Philadelphia. With war at an end, the country had entered
upon the enjoyment of the welcome fruits of peace.
As we study the few facts known about Fulton during this period, it is
easy to discover several important reasons which influenced him toward
art as a career, and Philadelphia as a place of residence.
Benjamin West, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, was at this time
famous as a painter in London; he was a man whose success had brought
special pride to Lancaster, for he had there begun his career as portrait
painter. West’s father, an intimate friend of Robert Fulton’s father,
allowed his son, at the early age of twelve, to visit Lancaster in order
to paint the portraits of a certain Mrs. Ross and her children. He had
been so successful that orders poured in, taxing his time and strength
to fill them. Canvas could not be had, so he painted his pictures upon
smooth boards. His genius had been shown when he was very young, for at
the age of seven he sketched a correct likeness of his sister’s child
in the cradle. He had no colors to work with until a party of friendly
Indians visited his home, and Benjamin, in boyish pride, showed them his
pencil sketches. They generously gave him the colors they used to paint
their faces and ornaments, hues extracted from the juices of berries and
herbs. They also taught him to mix the paints to form new shades and
combinations. He had no brush, so he made one by taking from the tail
of a cat some furry hairs which he pulled up through a goose-quill. We
remember the adage, “A poor workman blames his tools.” A good workman can
manage to make tools from almost nothing, if he really wants to work.
The fame of Benjamin West in London was a favorite topic of conversation
in Lancaster. Robert Fulton had already been able to sell mechanical
drawings to the shops and had painted tavern-signs, as had West, for
local inns. What more natural than that Fulton, with like talent for art,
should decide to adopt portrait-painting as his profession?
Mrs. Fulton’s heart must have been very full as she bade her eldest son
goodby and saw him mount the stage-coach for the journey to Philadelphia.
He had some friends in the city, Lancaster people who had gone there for
business or other reasons, for a large city always drains the adjacent
villages of the enterprising folk who desire greater fields for action.
Robert Fulton had a cheerful and happy nature and a real talent for
making friends, so he soon added new acquaintances to his list, though he
was always particular to choose his companions wisely.
It was a brave venture for a country lad of seventeen to attempt
self-support by art in a great city, but he was eager to acquire every
kind of knowledge, and applied himself earnestly to whatsoever his hand
could find to do. He designed carriages and buildings; he made mechanical
drawings for machine-shops; he copied sketches in India ink; he painted
tavern-signs, and all the while, he studied the finer art of portrait and
miniature painting, with the hope of making this alone his profession
when time should grant him sufficient skill.
An interesting example of Fulton’s early art is a sketch in India ink of
a French landscape, showing peasant women washing linen by the side of a
stream. It is entitled “La Blanchiseuse” and signed “Robert Fulton, March
15, 1783,” so it was made during his first year in Philadelphia. Probably
it was a copy of a French engraving in the Museum where Fulton took
lessons when he could afford to employ a teacher.
At that time Charles Wilson Peale was the foremost artist in
Philadelphia, and it is thought that Fulton availed himself of his
instruction,—at any rate they were friends during later life.
In 1785 the young Lancaster student was registered in the city directory,
“Robert Fulton, Miniature Painter, Cor. of 2d. & Walnut Streets,” which
indicates that he was launched in his profession. The following year
he painted a portrait of his “Good Friend, Joseph Bringhurst,” a Quaker
patron. This portrait is labeled “Second portrait in oils”, which defines
the time when Fulton began to paint large portraits, although prior to
this date he had made many crayon portraits and miniatures.
At that time Benjamin Franklin, about to go to France as American
Ambassador, was the chief personage of Philadelphia. It was a fine
feather in Fulton’s cap when the great man showed him favor. Franklin
admired Fulton’s painstaking work and pleasant manner; it is said that
he showed him unusual attention and introduced him to prominent men
of the city. From this time Fulton’s services as a portrait painter
were steadily engaged and orders flowed in. In 1787 Benjamin Franklin
himself sat for his portrait, and this, of course, greatly helped to
set the fashion. Its astonishing adventures are thus described in the
_Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_:
A portrait of Ben. Franklin painted by Robert Fulton of
steamboat celebrity. On the back of the canvas is written “R.
Fulton, Pinxt, 1787.” The history of this rare picture is
distinctly traceable back thirty-three or thirty-four years, at
which time it was sold at auction for twenty-five cents. For
thirty years it hung without frame in the sitting room of a
Rhode Island farmer. At another time it was used as a barrel
cover in a farmer’s garret, and still later ornamented an
engine house. The Rev. Henry Baylies found it in a photograph
gallery in Fall River, Massachusetts. Mr. Baylies sold it in
1891 to C. F. Gunther, of Chicago.
Among the prominent citizens to whom Franklin introduced young Robert
Fulton was John Ross, a successful merchant, who in friendly interest
suggested that the artist should make a specialty of crayon likenesses
of the young ladies in society. To set the fashion, Mr. Ross ordered
portraits of his two daughters, Margaret and Clementina.
Mr. Ross was devoted to Clementina and when summoned to Paris on business
for the government, wished her to accompany him; but Mrs. Ross, knowing
that the ocean was infested by pirates, feared that their daughter might
fall into their hands and raised so strong an objection that Clementina
stayed at home. So Mr. Ross had her crayon portrait copied on ivory and
carried the miniature as traveling companion.
Fulton’s portrait shows Margaret Ross in fancy dress, with tall jeweled
head-gear, holding in her hand a full-blown rose.
Perhaps the daintiest bit of work ever accomplished by Fulton was an
exquisite miniature of a certain Mary West, so tiny that it is set, as a
jewel, in a finger ring. The likeness, oval in shape, is surrounded by
brilliants. According to family tradition, Fulton painted the ring that
Mary West’s brother might wear it at the Court of St. James in London.
Her father, William West, came to live in Philadelphia about 1750 and was
probably related to Benjamin West, the artist.
It is easy to see that, by reason of hard work, Fulton was already on the
highway to success. He persevered at his profession and gained not merely
money but also the esteem and confidence of his friends. Unfortunately,
constant labor began to tell upon his health and, when he was twenty
years old, a heavy cold fastened so severely upon him that he fell
ill with inflammation of the lungs, followed by symptoms of the dread
disease, consumption.
He consulted an eminent doctor, by whose advice he immediately left the
city, with a proposed ocean voyage in view for the benefit of his health.
He journeyed first by stage-coach to the famous Hot Springs of Virginia,
where it is said some of his father’s relatives had taken up land. This
change did him great good. He not only gained strength but made many new
friends. Their advice deepened his desire to go to Europe to view the art
treasures of the old world, and, with the doctor’s prescription of an
ocean voyage in mind, he began to plan to cross the Atlantic.
During his stay in Philadelphia, nearly four years, he had grown from a
country lad, eager to earn his livelihood, into a young man of ability,
whose friendship with intelligent men, coupled with his unremitting
study, had given him mental poise and an easy manner of deportment. No
longer was he awkward and shy, but ready to mingle with men and women
of culture and feel himself, as indeed he was, one of them. He had,
moreover, proved the fact that he could earn his living by art, for he
had saved a substantial “nest-egg,” as the result of his industry. With
the happy optimism of youth he looked on the bright side of life and was
eager to see the old world across the seas. It was a wise decision. His
mind was open to receive impressions and keen to recognize universal
needs, which he could later help science to provide.
One anxiety alone clouded the prospect; not his ill health,—for already
he felt stronger and was assured that he was on the way to complete
recovery,—but tender thought for his widowed mother. Up to this time he
had been able, from time to time, to send her gifts of money; now he took
counsel with his friends as to how he might best provide for her future
comfort.
A family who owns its home is free from the monthly bill of rental to a
landlord. A “roof over the head” is of prime importance to ease of mind.
Possibly Fulton’s remittances of money had been devoted to house rent;
be that as it may, he decided before he set sail for England to provide
his mother with a home of her own. She was fond of a garden, and flowers
were her delight; so he decided that a small farm, where food could be
produced for the family of growing girls and the younger brother, would
prove to be the best and wisest gift he could bestow. Our next chapter
will tell of the pleasant farm on which Fulton established his mother and
family before he set sail for the old world.