He was born in
Princeton, Massachusetts, and at first worked as a goldsmith, also practicing engraving. Although seemingly untrained in painting, he came into prominence in 1790 through his portrait of
George Washington, intended as a gift to
Harvard University. In 1791 he visited
London, where he studied for a time under
Benjamin West, and then went to Italy. Upon his return to the United States in 1794, he practiced in
Philadelphia and
New York City, maintaining for several years a picture gallery and art museum on Water Street in New York.
Robert Edge Pine began the first representation of
Congress Voting Independence (Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia) in 1784, but it was unfinished at his death. Savage completed the painting in 1801, and mass-produced the image as a mezzotint. Its portraits of
Anthony Wayne,
Benjamin Rush, and
Thomas Jefferson are highly esteemed. Savage is principally known, however, for a large portrait group,
The Washington Family (begun 1789, completed 1796), portraying President
George Washington, First Lady
Martha Washington, two of her grandchildren,
George Washington Parke Custis and
Eleanor Parke Custis, and an enslaved servant, probably
Christopher Sheels. The painting was in the collection formed by
William F. Havemeyer, New York, until bought by
Andrew Mellon and donated to the
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, DC. He died in Princeton. ==Publications==