Feke, Robert (c. 1706–1750)

American portrait painter. One of the most striking of the colonial artists, noted for his use of colour and depiction of textiles, his trademark paintings depict women with similar faces and men who dominate the background, as in Isaac Royall and Family (1741). Other major works include General Waldo (Bawdoin College Museum). He was active in Philadelphia and Boston, and influenced by the painter John Smibert, a Scot from Edinburgh working in America.

Feke was born in Oyster Bay, New York. Although little of his life is known, he is thought to have worked as a sea captain.