Charles Fraser (August 20, 1782 – October 5, 1860), was an American artist best known for his miniatures of prominent American figures.

Early life

Charles Fraser was born at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

in 1782. His parents died when he was nine years old and thereafter, he was raised by his older brother, Frederick Fraser. He studied law and practiced until 1818, but afterwards devoted himself to art. He attended the classical academy of Bishop Robert Smith in Charleston along with

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was a portrait painter in the United States. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence. His subjects included nationa ...

Career

At various points in his career, he was associated with

Washington Allston Washington Allston (November 5, 1779 – July 9, 1843) was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting. He was well known during his lifetime for ...

and John Stevens Cogdell. In 1806, he visited

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

where he met up with

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

and

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...

. In 1825, he painted a portrait of

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

. His talent was very diversified, and in 1857, at an exhibition of his works at Charleston, there were shown 313 miniatures and 139 landscapes and other pieces by him. He was also a frequent orator in Charleston. For instance, he delivered the dedication address at Magnolia Cemetery in 1850. He also delivered an address on the dedication of a new building on the College of Charleston campus in 1828. In 1830, he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

as an Honorary Academician, and elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1834.American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> Fraser died at Charleston in 1860.

Gallery

File:Alvan Fisher - Portrait of the American painter Charles Fraser.jpg, Portrait of

Alvan Fisher Alvan Fisher (August 9, 1792February 13, 1863) was one of the United States's pioneers in landscape painting and genre works. Early years He was born in Needham, Massachusetts, the fourth of Aaron and Lucy (Stedman) Fisher's six sons. He mov ...

, by Fraser, 1819ca, now in th
MFA Boston
File:Christopher Gadsden.jpg, Portrait of

Christopher Gadsden Christopher Gadsden (February 16, 1724 – August 28, 1805) was an American politician who was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement during the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress, a brigadier ...

, by Fraser, 1819, now in the

Gibbes Museum of Art The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in t ...

File:Colonel James Elliott McPherson.jpg, Portrait of Colonel James Elliott McPherson by Fraser, 1819, now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Isaac O'Brien L. McPherson.jpg, Portrait of Isaac O'Brien L. McPherson by Fraser, 1823, now in the

File:Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger.jpg, Portrait of Dr.

Francis Kinloch Huger Francis Kinloch Huger (September 17, 1773 – February 14, 1855), a trained physician and artillery officer, was a scion of the Huger family of South Carolina. A member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and South Carolina Senate, h ...

by Fraser, 1825, now in the

File:Mrs theodore gourdin.tif, Portrait of Mrs. Theodore Gourdin (Elizabeth Gaillard), 1826, now in the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

File:Charles Fraser - John McPherson Pringle - Google Art Project.jpg, Portrait of John McPherson Pringle by Fraser, 1834, now in the

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Charles 1782 births 1860 deaths 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists American male painters 19th-century American painters Portrait miniaturists Artists from Charleston, South Carolina Painters from South Carolina American portrait painters Members of the American Antiquarian Society 19th-century American male artists