- Born:
- July 3, 1738, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]
- Died:
- September 9, 1815, London, England (aged 77)
- Notable Works:
- âBoy with a Flying Squirrelâ
- âWatson and the Sharkâ
- Movement / Style:
- English school
John Singleton Copley
-
Who was John Singleton Copley?
John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) was an American painter, celebrated as colonial America's finest artist. Before turning 20, he was an accomplished artist, with portraiture as his specialty. Copley's portraits displayed his knowledge of New England subjects, portraying a powerful sense of physical presence.
Copley aimed to match European standards. In 1766, he exhibited A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham) in London, receiving praise from Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West. In 1774, he left America for England. His 1778 painting, Watson and the Shark, highlights man versus nature, a theme common in 19th-century Romantic art. In 1779, he was elected to the Royal Academy.
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What type of art is John Singleton Copley best known for?
John Singleton Copley, an American painter, is best known for his portraits. He was considered the finest artist in colonial America. Copley's skill was most evident in portraiture, demonstrating an intimate understanding of his New England subjects. His portraits conveyed a powerful sense of physical presence and directness. Copley used the Rococo portrait style, portraying subjects with objects associated with their daily lives, bringing a unique liveliness to 18th-century American painting and reinforcing the Anglophilia of his patrons.
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When and where did John Singleton Copley live and work?
John Singleton Copley, considered colonial America's finest artist, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1738, and died in London, England, on September 9, 1815.
Copley gained graphic art skills from his stepfather and was an accomplished draughtsperson before age 20. His portraits revealed an intimate knowledge of his New England subjects. He was steadily employed in Boston but wanted to test himself against European standards.
He left the American colonies in 1774 and never returned. In 1775, his family arrived in London, and he established a home there in 1776. Copley was elected to the Royal Academy in 1779.
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What made Copley's portraits different from other artists of his time?
John Singleton Copley was acclaimed as the finest artist of colonial America because of his unique portraiture style. Copley conveyed a powerful sense of physical entity and directness, showing an intimate knowledge of his New England subjects.
Copley was influenced by the Rococo portrait style derived from Joseph Blackburn and made use of the portrait dâapparat. This Rococo device portrayed subjects with objects associated with their daily lives, which gave his work a liveliness and acuity not usually associated with 18th-century American painting. He also inserted English references into his portraits, reinforcing the Anglophilia of many of his patrons. Copley's portraits expressed the wealth and taste of his sitters while creating psychologically penetrating portraits.
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How did John Singleton Copley's move to England influence his art?
John Singleton Copley, acclaimed as colonial America's finest artist, moved to England in 1774. This move influenced his art by pushing him to try historical painting, a genre more esteemed in Europe, with his first important work being Watson and the Shark. Although his English paintings became more academically sophisticated, they generally did not match the extraordinary vitality and penetrating realism of his Boston portraits. Some suggest his later works became more extravagant, marking a transition from his earlier colonial style.
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What are some of John Singleton Copley's most famous works, and why are they important in American art history?
John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) was a celebrated American painter, known as the finest artist of colonial America.
Two of Copley's most famous works include A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham) and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Izard (Alice Delancey). A Boy with a Flying Squirrel garnered praise from Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West when it was exhibited in London in 1766, and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Izard (Alice Delancey) (1775) portrays an intimate moment between a married couple and is seen as bridging the gap between Copleyâs earlier colonial style and his more extravagant later works.
Copley's portraits are important in American art history because they offer intimate knowledge of New England subjects, conveying a powerful sense of physical entity and directness. Copley's portraits also capture the wealth and taste of affluent New Englanders and New Yorkers.
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John Singleton Copley (born July 3, 1738, Boston, Massachusetts [U.S.]âdied September 9, 1815, London, England) was an American painter of portraits and historical subjects, generally acclaimed as the finest artist of colonial America.
Little is known of Copleyâs boyhood. He gained familiarity with graphic art from his stepfather, the limner and engraver Peter Pelham, and developed an early sense of vocation: before he was 20 he was already an accomplished draughtsperson. Copley soon discovered that his skills were most pronounced in the genre of portraiture. In his portraits, he revealed an intimate knowledge of his New England subjects and milieu and conveyed a powerful sense of physical entity and directness. Influenced by a Rococo portrait style derived from Joseph Blackburn, Copley made eloquent use of the portrait dâapparatâa Rococo device of portraying subjects with objects associated with their daily livesâwhich gave his work a liveliness and acuity not usually associated with 18th-century American painting. This device allowed Copley to insert English references into his portraits, thereby reinforcing the Anglophilia of many of his patrons.
Although he was steadily employed with commissions from the Boston bourgeoisie, Copley wanted to test himself against the standards of Europe. In 1766, therefore, he exhibited A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham) at the Society of Artists in London. It was highly praised both by Joshua Reynolds and by Benjamin West. Copley married in 1769. Although he was urged by fellow artists who were familiar with his work to study in Europe, he did not venture out of Boston except for a seven-month stay in New York City (June 1771âJanuary 1772). When political and economic conditions in Boston began to deteriorate (Copleyâs father-in-law was one of the merchants to whom the tea dumped during the Boston Tea Party had been consigned), Copley left the American colonies in June 1774, never to return. In 1775 his wife, children, and several other family members arrived in London, and Copley established a home there in 1776.
His ambitions in Europe went beyond portraiture: he was eager to make a success in the more highly regarded sphere of historical painting. In his first important work in this genre, Watson and the Shark (1778), Copley used what was to become one of the great themes of 19th-century Romantic art: the struggle of man against nature. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1779. Generally speaking, his English paintings did not match the extraordinary vitality and penetrating realism of his Boston portraits, but they grew more academically sophisticated and self-conscious. Although his physical and mental health were in decline in his later years, Copley continued to paint with considerable success until the last few months of his life.