POMEGRANATE Paul Peel Boxed Notecards

Like many of his Canadian contemporaries of the late nineteenth century, Paul Peel found it necessary to train abroad in order to gain credibility at home. His three years of study with Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia, followed by a few months at the Royal Academy, London, and five years in the Parisian ateliers of Jean-Léon Gérôme and Benjamin Constant, enabled him to become a master at presenting the draped and nude figure in both interior and landscape settings. For most of his artistic career until his untimely death, Peel lived abroad and exhibited at the Paris Salon, although he would also send paintings back to Canada for exhibition. Reflecting the popular taste of the time, Peel specialized in paintings of children and their activities. His most popular image, After the Bath, combines the artist’s technical facility at rendering the nude human form with a subtle use of color to convey the fire—the sole source of light—and its warmth.