Matthew Pratt

Biography

Painter Matthew Pratt earned renown for honest and expressive portraits that captured the dignity of colonial and early American figures. Trained in the style of Jacques-Louis David’s influence, he balanced sophistication with simplicity, creating likenesses that preserved family legacies and civic pride in equal measure.

He also taught and encouraged younger artists, leaving behind a body of work that anchors Philadelphia’s artistic heritage in the years surrounding independence.