Introducing: Robert Field (1794-1819)

Robert Field was an English painter who trained at the Royal Academy before immigrating to the United States in 1794. While in the U.S., he completed a number of miniatures, although relatively few large oil portraits. Gaining commissions for larger portrait works in the U.S. at this time was difficult as competition amongst artists was fierce, and clients would often seek the work of well established and celebrated hands. It is likely that this competitive environment encouraged Field to move elsewhere, and in May 1808 he relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Portrait miniature of George Washington by Robert Field

Portrait of John Maxwell Nesbitt, c. 1796 by Robert Field

Once established in the coastal garrison town, Field experienced a boom in commissions. In his eight years in Halifax, he painted over fifty oil portraits for those belonging to the administrative and military elite - an elite hungry for validation of their posts and perceived importance within their society, and within the Empire: "The ruling class of government officials, merchants, and military officers had constructed an aristocratic lifestyle by emulating English manners, material taste and even entertainments. The arrival of a pedigreed portrait painter who could give visual testament to the real (or imagined) power was but another step towards cultural legitimacy". (Sandra Paikowsky, 1978)

Lieutenant Provo William Parry Wallis, R.N., 1813 by Robert Field

Sir George Provost, 1808-1816, by Robert Field

Concentrating on individual portraits, it was only a matter of time before Field exhausted his available market (he actually ran out of officials to paint!), and eventually the commissions stalled, forcing his once again to move elsewhere in the Empire. His voyage to Kingston, Jamaica, however; did not prove to be as fruitful, and he died soon after his arrival there in 1819.

Read more about Robert Field: Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, Sandra Paikowsky's Robert Field, 1769-1819, 1978.