Overview
Whether working on a portrait, an Orientalist picture or a genre scene with French peasants, Pearce was a superior draftsman as stated by Mary Lublin in the catalogue A Rare Elegance: The Paintings of Charles Sprague Pearce: "He became recognized both in America and abroad for his sophisticated technique, with its luminous palette and exquisite stroke, and for his sense of beauty and artistic control." All of these qualities can be seen not only in his completed works but even in the simplest of studies, such as this work.
Though Charles Sprague Pearce lived abroad most his life and married a French woman, he still connected with Americans. He became friends with expatriate artists like Paul Wayland Bartlett, the successful sculptor. Bartlett and Pearce actually exchanged a portrait and cast bronze of each other. Their friendship was strong and when the two men got married, their wives became friends as well.
Awards
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France, 1894
Order of Leopold, Belgium, 1895
Order of the Red Eagle, Prussia, 1897
Order of Dannebrog, Denmark, 1899
Memberships
Society of American Artists, 1886
National Academy of Design, Associate, 1906
Paris Society of American Painters
Salmagundi Club
Exhibitions
Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876
Brooklyn Art Association, 1877
Boston Art Club, 1877-1904
Paris Salon, 1876-77, 1879, 1881-96 (medal, 1883), 1898-99
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Annuals, 1882-1909 (gold medal, 1885)
National Academy of Design, 1883-92
Art Institute of Chicago
Mechanic's Institute, Boston, 1878 (medal), 1884 (gold)
Ghent, 1886 (gold)
Munich, 1888 (gold)
Berlin, 1891
San Francisco, 1894 (gold)
Atlanta Exposition, 1895 (gold)
Vienna Staats, 1898 (gold)
Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901 (medal)
Corcoran Gallery, annual, 1908
Museums and Public Collections
Denver Art Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
National Portrait Gallery
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Smith College Museum of Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Zigler Museum
