Edward Savage was an American painter of the Federal period, engraver, and museum keeper. He was born in Princeton, Massachusetts on November 26, 1761. He is best known as one of the first proprietors of a museum and art gallery, but perhaps most of all for the iconic painting entitled, "The Washington Family" (c.1795). The painting, which features United States President George Washington with his wife, Martha, and two step-grandchildren, was engraved and received wide distribution in the United States and Britain. The work was painted at a time of strong and growing American nationalism, and Savage focuses on visual themes of neo-Classical ideals and Renaissance balance. Savage’s successfully conveyed the ideas of national family (represented by the Washington family), security and steadiness (observed in Washington’s strong, yet relaxed posture), and a backdrop of wide, expanding landscape, signifying United States future dominion of the North American continent. The print was extremely popular and was framed or otherwise displayed in homes, businesses, schools, government offices, and churches all over the country. The original painting was exhibited for years at a museum established by Savage in New York. It is now located in the Boston Museum. A number of Savage’s other paintings were also engraved and sold well.

Nothing is known with regard to Savage’s artistic training, though even his earliest efforts show he was an accomplished artist with an eye for perspective rarely observed in untrained artists. Some research suggests that he may have studied briefly with Benjamin West during a visit to London, where he also exhibited his own work. While in London he was assisted by his apprentice John Wesley Jarvis and engraver David Edwin. Later, both of these men would claim that their talents added significantly to the quality of Savage’s work while he was in London. While it is true that the stiff poses of his figures suggest he had little training in human anatomy, yet at that time and particularly with regard to paintings of Washington, a hierarchal, static pose was often preferred. Savage was originally a goldsmith, but later turned his talents to portrait painting and operating art galleries in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City. He was also a proprietor of a natural history museum in Philadelphia. Savage died in 1817 on his farm in Massachusetts.

Image: The painting, "The Washington Family," by Edward Savage.