Mary Jane Simes - Portrait of a Young Girl - 1999

Mary Jane Simes was an American portrait painter who worked in both oils and painted miniatures. She was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

in 1807 and died in 1872. Mary Jane Simes is a member of the Peale family, an important lineage of artists and cultural workers in 18th and 19th century America. She is a descendant of Charles Willson Peale, who established one of the first museums of art and natural history in the United States. Her aunts were

Anna Claypoole Peale Anna Claypoole Peale (March 6, 1791 – December 25, 1878) was an American painter who specialized in portrait miniatures on ivory and still lifes. She and her sister, Sarah Miriam Peale, were the first women elected academicians of the Pennsylvan ...

and

Sarah Miriam Peale Sarah Miriam Peale (May 19, 1800 – February 4, 1885) was an American portrait painter, considered the first American woman to succeed as a professional artist. One of a family of artists of whom her uncle Charles Willson Peale was the most illu ...

, who were known as miniaturists and oil painters, respectively. Simes lived with her aunt Sarah during a portion of her childhood. Her career as an exhibiting artist ended upon marriage to John Floyd Yeats.

Career

Simes grew up amongst artists, and little of her early education is known. However, it is believed she was the only pupil of her aunt Anna, and she was important enough during her lifetime to be referenced in a compendium of women artists. Simes exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts throughout her short career. Simes was active from 1825 to 1835. Her work can be seen at the

Maryland Historical Society The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), . founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The organization "collects, preserves, and inte ...

, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Cheekwood Museum of Art. Her work has been included in 20th century surveys of American Antiquities at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simes, Mary Jane 19th-century American women painters 1807 births 1872 deaths American portrait painters Artists from Baltimore Painters from Maryland 19th-century American painters