Portrayed by Christian Johnson

Charles Willson Peale, perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous portrait-painter, was a contemporary of George Washington and was commissioned by the Washingtons to paint our First President. Patriot, archaeologist, showman, scientist, taxidermist, zoo-manager, collector of curiosities, entrepreneur, bridge-builder, pioneer polygrapher, fireplace patentee, Peale searched for truth in his environment and in the lives of the people around him.

Christian Johnson’s Charles Willson Peale reveals a man who constantly questioned, continuously quested; Johnson shows us a great painter who always sought to become an even greater painter. Caring about his subjects, Peale elicited their stories, their emotions, their truth. This Eyewitness to History recognized that portraits were nonverbal histories, documentaries of people and places and events.

Invite Christian Johnson’s Charles Willson Peale to your event and you will be amazed and astonished when Johnson invites you into Peale’s world, where he elicited emotions and then “froze them.” Let Mr. Johnson’s Charles Willson Peale share these “frozen treasures,” with 64 slides and his “magic lantern”:

• Educational Programs: Programs for Schools, Libraries, Museums, Historical Sites: Schools, Museums, Libraries, Historic Sites
• Parties: Visually-recognizable historical characters to Meet & Greet, Mix & Mingle, Propose Toasts, Pose for Photo Ops: Mix & Mingle
• Pair with Gilbert Stuart, George Washington
• Christian Johnson: Bio of Actor/Historian, Reenactor, or Impersonator