Life and Career
Little is known for certain about his life, particularly his early years. Only one work by Feke, a portrait of a child, is datable before 1741. In that year he moved to Boston, where he painted Family of Isaac Royall (1741), a group portrait which borrows its composition from John Smibert’s The Bermuda Group (1729). Feke's works also show the influence of John Wollaston.
From 1741 until 1750, Feke worked in Boston, Newport, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, painting wealthy merchants and landowners. The latest record of his activities is August 26, 1751; suggestions by Feke's early biographers that he died in Barbadoes or Bermuda have not been substantiated.
Feke's paintings are known for their sobriety and uniformity, but also for their rich colours and painterly boldness.
Read more about this topic: Robert Feke
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