The Body of Raphaelle Peale: Still Life and Selfhood, 1812–1824

by Alexander Nemerov

The American painter Raphaelle Peale (1774-1825) left a legacy of vibrantly beautiful still lifes depicting objects such as fruit, vegetables, and meat. In this lively and literate study, the first book-length exploration of the artist, Alexander Nemerov presents a radical new reading of these paintings focusing on the uncanny quality of Raphaelle's still-life objects. Nemerov argues that the physical presence of these objects is not strictly their own but that of the artist's body. This imagery of embodiment, Nemerov argues, relates deeply to Raphaelle's own time.

The Body of Raphaelle Peale focuses on not just Raphaelle's paintings but also the visual and intellectual culture of early-nineteenth-century Philadelphia, to which these works intimately relate. More broadly, the book presents a reading of romanticism in the American visual arts. Above all, it is an argument about selfhood in Raphaelle's era. Raphaelle's focus―in paintings both playful and morbid―was the pleasures and horrors of being a mere body, of being less than a self.

Nemerov's primary source of evidence in this study is Raphaelle's art itself. After considering its theoretical and historical implications, he returns to the images, deftly guiding us to a fresh understanding of these remarkable paintings. Nemerov's formal analysis is infused with a sophisticated awareness of interdisciplinary issues, and he gracefully balances the formal, the theoretical, and the historical throughout his narrative. This beautifully illustrated study is sure to stimulate renewed appreciation of an exceptional American artist.

274 pages, Hardcover

First published February 10, 2001

About the author

A scholar of American art, Nemerov writes about the presence of art, the recollection of the past, and the importance of the humanities in our lives today. Committed to teaching the history of art more broadly as well as topics in American visual culture — the history of American photography, for example — he is a noted writer and speaker on the arts. His most recent books are Wartime Kiss: Visions of the Moment in the 1940s (2013) and Acting in the Night: Macbeth and the Places of the Civil War (2010). In 2011 he published To Make a World: George Ault and 1940s America (2011), the catalogue to the exhibition of the same title he curated at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Among his recent essays are pieces on Peter Paul Rubens, on Henry James, on Thomas Eakins and JFK; and on Rothko and Rembrandt.

Reviews

[Yelizaveta Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall pretty good. Nemerov’s writing style is reflective of his father’s, in that it is very metaphorical and lyrical. However, I do think he reveals more about himself at times than the work of Peele — specifically in his interpretation of the meat paintings. I would go so far as to characterize it as a misinterpretation based in Nemerov’s own life perspective.

[John Peel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete and utter nonsense in which, as art critic and professor, Nemerov totally misunderstands the point of his subject's artwork. For example, he says: "Raphaelle painted exceptionally small pieces in an era of exceptionally large pieces" (pp176-177), saying this was a matter of choice. In fact, Raphaelle was a severe sufferer from gout, which limited his ability to sit or stand to paint, so small pieces were simply easier on his pain-wracked body. Added to that, his response to his illness was to drink himself into oblivion. The Peales (distant relatives of mine) specialized in portraiture, but Raphaelle couldn't get anyone to trust themselves to his brush. As a result, he painted small still lifes that he sold cheaply to raise money for more booze.

Another example - he painted a picture of "Venus Rising From The Sea - A Deception". This was a direct parody of a painting of a nude Venus, only his painting has the image covered by a cloth. He was well-known for playing jokes, and this is obviously one of them - he wanted to tempt people to "lift the cloth" (which they couldn't, of course) to look at the dirty painting that it supposedly covered. Nemerov fails to see the humor and advances a theory that Raphaelle is repressing femininity and hiding from death!

[Cheryl]

Way too academic for me. Might make an interesting short series of lectures or something, but just too dense, and too theoretical, for an independent read imo. Though I do agree that there is something uncanny, something odd, something more to be seen in RP's still lifes.
skimmed July 2021.