Studio Life

The subtitle of this album – “Sketches of Fact and Fancy, Drawn Upon the Spot and Upon the Imagination” – hints at the satirical images inside, a recording of artist and patron relationships in Philadelphia in the 1860s. Each drawing, accompanied by a lengthy caption, depicts a witty exchange between artists and patron. For example, “A pupil that is all in his eye” Peter Paul Rembrandt Lemon Peel, visited by Mr. A.L. Shoddy, only thinly veils Cresson’s reference to Rembrandt Peale, who died at 83 in 1860, and had held an almost legendary status at the Pennsylvania Academy for half a century. The scene shows Peale fainting upon being shown the work of Mr. Shoddy’s son, a tongue and cheek reference to wealthy members of Philadelphia society who sent their untalented youth for education by the long suffering Peale.