Pratt, Matthew

Pratt, Matthew,

1734–1805, American portrait painter, b. Philadelphia. After he was an apprentice to his uncle, a painter in Philadelphia, he practiced portrait painting and then studied under Benjamin West in London (1764–66). His most famous paintings are The American School (Metropolitan Mus.) and portraits of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin West, and Cadwallader Colden.

Pratt, Matthew

(1734–1805) painter; born in Philadelphia. Based in Philadelphia, he painted portraits there in 1758. He studied under Benjamin West in London (1764–66), worked in England (1766–68), and visited England and Ireland (1770). His most famous painting The American School (1765), depicts artists in West's studio.