Jacob Eichholtz (1776-1842)

Jacob Eichholtz (1776–1842) inhabited several worlds, or so his letter to fellow artist and historian of early American art, William Dunlap would suggest. Trained as an artisan, he successfully entered the world of fine art (Fig. 1). Born and raised in the small town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he was most at home in cosmopolitan Philadelphia. His is an American story and his success at navigating a path through his rapidly changing worlds brings America’s past into sharper relief. Eichholtz began his career as a sign painter and a coppersmith. After several years making such things as copper teakettles and entryway signs, he ventured into portraiture in 1801. When noted portraitist Thomas Sully came to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to paint its leading citizens, Eichholtz gave the artist his “painting room” to use as a studio. Sully took Eichholtz under his wing, giving him painting supplies and offering advice. Eichholtz later wrote that “Chance about this time threw a painter into the town of my residence. This in a moment decided my fate as to the arts.” He painted mainly in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. (Rindge, “Jacob Eichholtz: 1776-1842,” in Kelly et al.,\n\n*American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century*, vol. I, 1996) He married Catharine Hatz Michael (1770–1817), a young widow with two children; his father took part in the American revolutionary war. At age 11, Eichholtz attended the english school at Franklin College in Lancaster where he learned the three rs — reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. He also took lessons from a sign painter since his parents noticed his inclination to draw, but eventually he was apprenticed as a coppersmith. After his apprenticeship ended, he started as a tinsmith working with sheet iron. By 1805, Eichholtz opened his own shop in lancaster where he, “mended sugar boxes, tinned copper kettles, and made coffee pots, wash basins, lanterns, stills, and funnels.” Eichholtz hired several workers to work in the shop, and devoted most of his time on offering his fellow lancastrians, at first, painted tinware, and then, small profile portraits on wood panels, in order to diversify his business and satisfy his passion for drawing. He was influenced by James Peale and Thomas Sully who encouraged him to continue painting. In 1808, he traveled to boston where he spent several weeks at the studio of gilbert stuart copying his works under stuart’s supervision. In 1823, Eichholtz moved to philadelphia where he, as he later wrote, faced both, “an incessant practice of ten years, and constant employment.” He was exhibiting with the society of artists at the pennsylvania academy of the fine arts. Eichholtz relocated back to lancaster in 1830 where he died in 1842. He and his family were originally interred at holy trinity lutheran church on south duke street in lancaster, pennsylvania. In the early 1850s, holy trinity church sought to expand its churchyard, so the church relocated the majority of gravestones and the remains to the new woodward hill cemetery, lot 33 of area b, including the remains of eichholtz and his family. Eichholtz’s legacy rests primarily on his prolific output of portraits—over 800 works completed during his lifetime. These paintings capture the spirit of Pennsylvania society in the Romantic Victorian era, reflecting a fascination with idealized beauty and psychological depth. His work is housed in major museums across the United States, ensuring that his contribution to American art history will endure for generations to come. Notably, Eichholtz’s portraits of Thaddeus Stevens and James Buchanan are generally accepted as the best that were done of these statesmen.

• Notable Achievements: Over 800 Portraits Completed
• Influences: James Peale & Thomas Sully
• Location: Lancaster, Pennsylvania