Ralph Earl painted many of the most enduring images of American people and places during the last quarter of the 18th century, yet he has remained one of the least known American painters. This book - the first full-scale investigation of Earl's life and work - gives details of his colourful career, examines his unique patterns of patronage, explores why his style and technique underwent many changes, discusses how the values of New England society influenced his art, and provides commentaries on his works and those of his followers. Elizabeth Kornhauser related Earl's adventures as an artist during turbulent times: his early years painting prominent New Haven patriots on the eve of the Revolution, his escape to England during the war, his three years in a New York City debtors' prison, and his return to the Connecticut countryside, where he spent a decade painting innovative portraits that featured true likenesses of his middle-class clientele - with their newly acquired land, homes and furnishings. Esays by Richard L. Bushman, Stephen H. Kornhauser and Aileen Ribeiro shed additional light on society in late 18th century Connecticut, on Earl's working methods and materials, and on the way that the costumes of Earl's sitters substantiate the broad basis of his patronage.