Patroon painters

Early 18th Century New York-based artists whose specialty was painting portraits of wealthy members of society, often merchants. Many of the artists had little training, remain unnamed, and copied styles of Dutch and English portraitists. Much of their work is described as Naive. By 1750, most of these artists had been replaced for portrait commissions by ones with schooling. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"