Edward Savage (artist)

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Edward Savage (1761-1817) was an American portrait painter and engraver. He was born in Princeton, Mass., and at first worked as a goldsmith, also practicing engraving. Although seemingly untrained in painting, he came into prominence in 1790 through his portrait of Washington, intended as a gift to Harvard University. In 1791 he visited London, where he studied for a time under West, and then went to Italy. Upon his return to the United States in 1794, he practiced in Philadelphia and New York, maintaing for several years a picture gallery and art museum in Water Street, New York. He completed the first representation of "Congress Voting Independence" (Pennsylvania Historical Society), begun by Robert Edge Pine. The portraits of Anthony Wayne, Dr. Rush, and Thomas Jefferson are good examples of his mezzotint engravings, which are highly esteemed. He is principally known, however, by a large portrait group, "The Washington Family" (1796), comprising George Washington, his wife, and two of the latter's grandchildren, in the collection formed by William F. Havemeyer, New York.