Edward Greene Malbone

Today we go back to Colonial Park Cemetery to learn about one of the honored dead who is buried within its walls. Prior to going to Colonial Park I had never heard of Edward Greene Malbone. It is just another example of how rich American history is and how lacking even a college education can be in teaching us its fundamentals.

Edward Greene Malbone was born in August 1777 in Newport, Rhode Island the illegitimate son of John Malbone who went by his mother's name of Greene until an act of the legislature allowed him to assume his father's name. He watched scene painters at the theater in Newport and after painting a landscape scene for the theater he was able to devote all his time to art. In 1794 he became a portrait painter in Providence, Rhode Island. He then moved on to Boston, New York and Philadelphia till 1800 when he went with his friend Washington Allston to Charleston, South Carolina. In 1801 he went to Europe returning in December and taking up residence in Charleston. He made visits north painting miniatures in various cities but his art was undermined by his poor health. He traveled to the West Indies in 1806 but the trip did not improve his health.. He died in Savannah, Georgia on Mary 7, 1897 at the age of 29 of tuberculosis. His friend Washington Allston said of him: "had the happy talent of elevating the character without impairing the likeness. This was remarkable in male heads, and no woman ever lost her beauty under his hand. To this he added a grace of execution all his own." It is over 200 years later and Malbone is considered the greatest artist of miniatures ever produced by the United States. Here are some examples of his beautiful work.

Self portrait