Feke, Robert

Feke, Robert (b ?Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY, c.1705; d ?Barbados, ?1752).
American Colonial portrait painter. Little is known of his life until 1741, when he executed a large portrait group in Boston, Isaac Royall and his Family (Harvard Univ.). Later he worked in Philadelphia, and he is last securely documented in 1751. There are about a dozen signed portraits from his hand and about 50 more are reasonably attributed to him. His works are somewhat lacking in characterization, but their strength and clarity of design and delicacy of touch give them a high place among Colonial portraits.