Benjamin Greenleaf (January 13, 1769 - January 10, 1821) was an American portraitist, active throughout New England during his career. Greenleaf was born in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, son of Mary and John Greenleaf; long identified with the educator of the same name, he was established as a different individual in 1981. On November 20, 1799, he married Abigail Greenleaf Rhoades (sometimes given as Rhodes) of Dorchester in that state. Four years later he produced his earliest known portrait, that of his great-uncle Jacob Goold, a resident of Weymouth. This work is in oil on canvas mounted on board, the medium in which his earliest paintings were created. He was active at least until 1818, and is known to have traveled extensively throughout New England, particularly the vicinity of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

; he is also traced in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, in the communities of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and Hopkinton, and in the

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

towns of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Phippsburg Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,155 at the 2020 census. It is within the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. A tourist de ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. A diary entry from Samuel Adams of Bath, dated 1816, suggests that he might have received lodging in at least partial exchange for his painting, and he is known to have been active there the following year as well. Little is known about his business transactions; his career has been documented mainly using the paper labels affixed to the backs of his portraits. Greenleaf died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a ...

in Weymouth in 1821. Besides oil on canvas, Greenleaf favored the technique of

reverse glass painting Reverse painting on glass is an art form consisting of applying paint to a piece of glass and then viewing the image by turning the glass over and looking through the glass at the image. Another term used to refer to the art of cold painting and ...

, and the majority of his fifty-six documented works are in this medium. Frequently he depicted his sitters in profile, but occasionally he used three-quarter view in his works. Many of his subjects were related through marriage or otherwise acquainted, and he appears to have worked mainly within a small circle. Two portraits, one each on canvas and on glass, are owned by the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

. A pair of portraits attributed to him are held by the

American Folk Art Museum The American Folk Art Museum is an art museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, at 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street. It is the premier institution devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of folk art and creativ ...

. An 1820 likeness of Joseph Wiggins is in the collection of the

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United Stat ...

. The

Boston Medical Library The Boston Medical Library, founded in 1875 in Boston, Massachusetts, was originally organized to alleviate the problem of scattered distribution of medical texts throughout Boston. It has since evolved into the "largest academic medical library ...

owns a portrait of

Cotton Tufts Cotton Tufts (30 May 1734 in Medford, Province of Massachusetts – 8 December 1815 in Weymouth, Massachusetts) was a Massachusetts physician. He was a cousin of Abigail Adams. Biography He was the grandson of Peter Tufts, who emigrated to Mas ...

. A self-portrait is also recorded, in a private collection.

References

1769 births 1821 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters People from Hull, Massachusetts Painters from Massachusetts American portrait painters Naïve painters {{US-painter-stub