Winterthur Museum to Host Curators’ Salon on the Peale Family of Painters
Curator Kedra Kearis and conservator Sakeenah Montanaro lead a small-group exploration of Winterthur’s collection of Peale family paintings, silhouettes, and miniatures
Winterthur, DE — October 2026 — Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library will host a Curators’ Salon titled Painting the New Nation on Sunday, Oct. 11, from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. The intimate small-group program, for which a limited number of tickets remain, will explore the multigenerational Peale family of painters through works drawn from Winterthur’s collection of approximately 50 paintings and works on paper.
Curator Kedra Kearis will lead the session, focusing on the stories of the Peale women and the artistic legacy of Moses Williams (1776-1830), a formerly enslaved artist who operated the physiognotrace at Charles Willson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum and produced thousands of silhouette portraits for visitors. Recent acquisitions have significantly expanded Winterthur’s holdings of Williams’s work.
The salon will highlight women within the Peale family tradition, including Mary Jane Peale (1827-1902), whose career offers a window into the experiences of women working within one of America’s most consequential artistic families. Through paintings, miniatures, and silhouettes, Kearis will examine how members of the extended Peale family established their own artistic practices and contributed to the development of American art.
Sakeenah Montanaro, post-graduate fellow in Paintings Conservation, will present findings from an ongoing technical study of Winterthur’s Peale painting collection. Participants will have a rare opportunity to examine selected works up close alongside Kearis and Montanaro, gaining insight into the materials, techniques, and histories of these objects, as well as new research into Williams’s silhouettes.
Registration is required. The program includes a wine and cheese reception. For tickets and information, visit Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library.
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