Earl, Ralph

Earl (or Earle), Ralph

(1751–1801) painter; born in Worcester County, Mass. He spent most of his life in Connecticut, except for a stay in England (1778–85), and became a leading portrait painter, rivaled only by John Singleton Copley, who influenced his work. His paintings have a folk quality, as in Portrait of Elijah Boardman (1789).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.