Paul Peel, Canadian painter, was born in 1860 in London, Ontario, where he began his art studies under the English-born landscape and portrait painter William Lees Judson (1842-1928). In 1877 Peel enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied for three years with Christian Schussele (1824-1879) and Thomas Eakins (1844-1916). In 1880 he studied briefly at the Royal Academy in London, England. In October of the same year Peel fulfilled his dream of studying art in Paris and for the next several years worked with Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), Henri Doucet (1856-1895), Jules Lefebvre (1836-1922), and Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (1845-1902). Peel's first exhibition was at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 1880. Exhibitions at the Royal Canadian Academy (1881), the Art Association of Montreal (1883) and the Paris Salon (1883) followed. In 1886 Peel married Danish portrait painter Isaure Verdier and had two children, Robert Andr� and Emilie Marguerite. He was an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists (1880), and an associate (1881) and a full member (1890) of the Royal Canadian Academy. Peel exhibited at the Royal Canadian Academy, the Ontario Society of Artists, the Art Association of Montreal Spring Exhibition, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, and the Paris Salon. In 1890, he won a medal at the Paris Salon and was the subject of a one-man exhibition in London, Ontario. Peel died in Paris in 1892.

Fonds consists of an undated book of drawings by Paul Peel (probably dating from Peel's childhood); a catalogue from the Western Fair, London, Ontario (1914), which lists one of Peel's paintings (The Tired Model) for sale; a typed copy of an article on Paul Peel by Isabel C. Armstrong (1907); a typed copy of a transcript of a radio program on Paul Peel, hosted by Lesley Stowe (1948); and 5 black and white photographs (including 1 photograph of the Peel home in London, Ontario, 1 photograph of Peel and his son in Paris, 1 group photograph showing members of the Peel family with M. and Mme. Hsidalgo? in Paris and 2 photographs of Peel's third class medal, won at the Paris Salon in 1890). The fonds also includes an annotated copy of the New England Magazine (containing an article on Canadian art and artists); newspaper clippings on Peel; correspondence addressed to Mrs. Paul Peel from the Library of Congress, Copyright Office (1895) noting the deposition of the title for The Little Shepherdess, Fauteuils d'Orchestre and The Twins by Mrs. Peel and her proprietorship of the works; correspondence between Ludovic Baschet and Paul Peel; a travel document from the British Ambassador in Paris (1891) giving Peel the right to travel freely within the French Republic; correspondence between the Budapest Museum and Paul Peel regarding the purchase of a painting by Peel; and correspondence to Mrs. Paul Peel from the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, expressing its member's sorrow at the death of Peel. A cigarette holder is also included with the fonds.

Source of supplied title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.

Immediate source of acquisition: Most of the material in the Paul Peel fonds was donated to the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives by Patricia Brooks-Hammond, 1978.

Terms governing use and reproduction: Permission to reproduce or publish material from the Paul Peel fonds must be obtained from the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

Finding aids: Box list available.

Associated material: Works by Peel are included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the London Regional Art Gallery, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. See Visual Resources database records for the fonds for further information on the photographs.