PHILADELPHIA.- In honor of the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The American Revolution Center present "Peace, Liberty, and Independence": 225 Years After the Treaty of Paris. The month-long exhibition includes rare and important paintings, watercolors, prints, maps, documents, and objects that illustrate the course of the second longest military conflict in American history. The exhibition will be on view at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts September 12 – October 12, 2008 in the Historic Landmark Building.

The September 3, 1783 Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War and secured British recognition of American Independence. To honor this landmark event, Pierre Vimont, Ambassador of France to the United States and Edward G. Rendell, Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, are serving as honorary co-chairs of a preview reception that will occur on September 10, 2008. Bruce Cole, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be honored during the preview reception for his significant achievements in supporting innovative history education, particularly through the arts.

The exhibition’s works of art include Paul Revere's incendiary hand-colored engraving of the Boston Massacre, entitled The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street (1770), an event that became a catalyst for armed resistance against British rule. The American Revolution Center is lending two period watercolors depicting the Battles of Paoli and Germantown by the Italian artist Xavier della Gatta as well as a group of rare arms and equipment carried by American, British, and French participants in the military conflict.

Following Washington's important victories at Princeton and Trenton, the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania commissioned Charles Willson Peale to paint his famous full-length portrait of George Washington (1779) that is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. That same year, Peale painted a compelling portrait of the young French ally, the Marquis de Lafayette, whose support was a turning point in the War. That painting is generously lent by Washington and Lee University.

The Siege and Surrender at Yorktown in October 1781 effectively brought major armed conflict to an end, though the Peace would not be concluded for nearly two years. The preliminary articles of peace, dated January 20, 1783, arrived by ship to Philadelphia in March and were immediately published by Eleazer Oswald. A copy of that broadside announcement is being lent by the Library Company of Philadelphia. Benjamin West's beautiful painting of the signing of the treaty is being lent by the Winterthur Museum, and shows John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin. Missing from the incomplete painting is the British Member of Parliament, David Hartley, who represented King George III and signed on behalf of England, and the British negotiators Richard Oswald and his secretary, Caleb Whitefoord. Hartley is, however, depicted in a mezzotint print from 1784 by James Walker after Sir George Romney, which was a recent gift to the Academy given by Donald A. Heald.

Several works in the exhibition reflect the aftermath of the Treaty of Paris and creation of a national aesthetic during the early Republic. Visitors will have a rare opportunity to view two iconic full-length portraits of President George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, the Pennsylvania Academy’s “Lansdowne portrait”, and the privately owned “Munro-Lennox” portrait. The final piece dates to Lafayette’s return to the United States nearly fifty years after the young French aristocrat was first swept up in the spirit of the American Revolution. The American Revolution Center and the Bank of America are lending painted silk parade banners that were used in a procession welcoming the aged general and dear friend of American Liberty to the now established republic in 1824.

Because of the importance of these items to their private and public owners, this exhibition will remain view for just one month.