Thomas Birch

Thomas Birch is best remembered for the sea battles of the War of 1812: American frigates and British warships under clouds of cannon smoke, with every sail and rope accurately drawn. He also painted calm harbours, stormy coasts, ship portraits and snowy winter landscapes, and one curator has called him the first American ship portraitist.

He was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1779 and came to Philadelphia with his father, the engraver William Birch, in 1794. Together they produced the Views of Philadelphia (1800), whose subscribers included John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. He painted portraits at first and turned to the sea around 1807. His painting of the USS United States capturing HMS Macedonian later hung in the Oval Office under President Kennedy. He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for some forty years and died in Philadelphia in 1851.

In American Warships Anchored at Port Mahon, look at the care given to rigging and flags.