biography of Matthew PRATT (1734-1805)

Birth place: Philadelphia, PA

Death place: Philadelphia

Profession: Portrait painter, decorative painter, teacher

Studied: apprenticed with his uncle, James Claypoole, Sr.,1749-55 (James Claypoole, Jr., had previously been identified as Pratt's teacher but subsequent research has shown that Pratt finished his apprenticeship in 1755. Given that James, Jr., was born about 1743, producing his first known work c.1761, it is not feasible that James, Jr. was the teacher); Benjamin West in London

Exhibited: Soc. Artists of Great Britain, 1766 (The American School"); Williamsburg, VA, 1773"

Work: MMA; Nat. Port. Gallery, Wash., DC; Colonial Williamsburg Coll.; Shelburne (VT) Mus.; PAFA; NY Chamber of Commerce

Comments: After his apprenticeship, he set up his trade (see Hart) with Francis Foster (of whom nothing further is recorded). Pratt spent six months in Jamaica, 1757-58, and on his return to Philadelphia began painting portraits. In 1764 he traveled to London with his cousin Betsy Shewell, who was Benjamin West's fiancÈe, and West's father. Pratt lived with West from 1764-66 and while there made his best-known painting, The American School" (MMA), a conversation piece depicting five artists in the studio of Benjamin West. After his London stay, Pratt painted portraits in Bristol, England for a year and a half, returning to Philadelphia in 1768. Over the next several years, Pratt painted in Philadelphia and also traveled to NYC in 1772 and Virginia. In 1773 he had an exhibition in Williamsburg, showing portraits and still-lifes, as well as copies after West. After 1785, Pratt seems to have remained primarily in Philadelphia. While he continued to paint portraits, he also worked as a sign painting, achieving high distinction for his craftsmanship in that field. Pratt was also a teacher.

Sources: G&W; Older sources include: Sawitzky, Matthew Pratt, 1734-1805, chronology and checklist, 43 plates; Flexner, The Light of Distant Skies, biblio., 265; Charles Henry Hart, "Autobiographical Notes of Matthew Pratt, Painter," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography vol.19 (1896): 460-67. More recently, see Saunders and Miles, 32, 265-68, 311-13 (who identify Claypoole, Sr., as Pratt's teacher); and Baigell, Dictionary.