National Gallery of Art

Overview

John Singleton Copley, America's most important colonial painter, was born in Boston of Irish parents. In 1748 Copley's widowed mother married Peter Pelham, a painter and engraver. Copley's stepfather probably gave him some art lessons but died when Copley was only 13. In later years the painter claimed he was self–taught.

Copley, who was extremely observant, presumably learned about art largely by watching other English–trained painters who were working in the New World and by studying engravings imported from Europe. Much more important was his innate ability to record details objectively and to suggest character. Gilbert Stuart would later say of the uncompromising realism in Copley's Epes Sargent, "Prick that hand and blood will spurt forth."

About 70 years old when he posed for Copley, Sargent had dropped out of Harvard College to enter business in his native Gloucester. After the death of his first wife, this prosperous merchant and shipowner married a rich widow from Salem. Copley's portrayal shows him nonchalantly leaning on a marble pedestal as a symbol of prestige; since carved stone monuments were rather rare in the colonies, this imaginary device must be borrowed from European prints of potentates.

Such penetrating likenesses made Copley the best–paid artist in colonial America. By shipping some of his canvases to London for criticism, Copley soon became known in England.

More information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 24-28, which is available as a free PDF at https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf

Provenance

John James Dixwell [1806-1876], Boston, the sitter's great-great-grandson;[1] his daughter, Caroline Dixwell Clements [Mrs. George Henry Clements, 1856-1931], New York;[2] her daughter, Anna Clements Knauth [Mrs. Oswald Whitman Knauth, 1890-1965], New York;[3] her son, Arnold Whitman Knauth II [b. 1918], Rockport, Massachusetts; (Milch Galleries, New York), 1958; (Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York), 1958-1959;[4] purchased 1959 by NGA with funds from the Avalon Foundation.

Exhibition History

1863

Pictures lent to the Sanitary Fair for Exhibition, Boston Athenaeum, 1863, no. 140.

1864

Paintings and Statuary exhibited for the Benefit of the National Sailors' Fair, at the Athenaeum Gallery, Boston Athenaeum, 1864, no. 338.

1871

Forty-Seventh Exhibition of Paintings at the Athenaeum Gallery, Boston, 1871, no. 238.

1888

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1888-1892.

1893

Retrospective Exhibit of American Painting, World's Columbian Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893, no. 203.

1909

The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: American Paintings, Furniture, Silver and Other Objects of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1909, no. 8.

1911

An Exhibition of Colonial Portraits, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1911, no. 16.

1917

An Exhibition of Early American Paintings, Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1917, no. 18.

1936

An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937, no. 5.

1940

Survey of American Painting, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1940, no. 62.

1942

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1942-1945.

1945

National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945-1948.

1949

From Colony to Nation: An Exhibition of American Painting, Silver and Architecture From 1650 to the War of 1812, Art Institute of Chicago, 1949, no. 29.

1962

Masterpieces of Art, Seattle World's Fair, 1962, no. 10.

1963

Four Centuries of American Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1963-1964, unnumbered.

1965

John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966, no. 14.

1968

Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, 1968, no cat.

1969

In Memoriam, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1969, unnumbered checklist.

1976

American Art: 1750-1800, Towards Independence, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1976, no. 11.

1976

The Classical Spirit in American Portraiture, Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, 1976, no. 3.

1995

John Singleton Copley in America, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Milwaukee Art Museum, 1995-1996, no. 11, repro.

Bibliography

1863

Catalogue of Pictures lent to the Sanitary Fair for Exhibition. Together with Cataolgue of Paintings and Statuary, of the Athenaeum Gallery, Beacon Street, Boston., Exh. cat. Boston Atheneum, 1863: 13, no. 140.

1864

Catalogue of Paintings and Statuary exh. for the Benefit of the National Sailors' Fair, at the Athenaeum Gallery, Exh. cat. Boston Athenaeum, 1864: 117, no. 338.

1867

Tuckerman, Henry T. Book of the Artists. 1867. 5th ed. 1870. Reprint. New York, 1966: 73.

1871

Catalogue of the Forty-Seventh Exhibition of Paintings at the Athenaeum Gallery, Exh. cat. 2nd ed. Boston, 1871: 10, no. 238.

1873

Perkins, Augustus Thorndike. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1873: 16, 101-102, 105.

1892

Museum of Fine Arts. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings, With a Summary of other Works of Art, Exhibited on the Second Floor. 3rd ed. Boston, 1892: 15, no. 144.

1893

Retrospective Exhibit of American Painting. Exh. cat. World's Columbian Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893: no. 203.

1904

Isham, Samuel. "The Art of Copley." Masters in Art Boston, 1904: 5:39, pl. 7.

1909

The Hudson-Fulton Celebration: American Paintings, Furniture, Silver and Other Objects of Art, The Hudson-Fulton Celebration 2. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1909: no. 8.

1911

An Exhibition of Colonial Portraits, Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1911: no. 16.

1915

Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1915: 214-215.

1917

An Exhibition of Early American Paintings, Exh. cat. Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1917: no. 18.

1923

Sargent, Emma Worcester, and Charles Sprague Sargent. Epes Sargent of Gloucester and his Descendants. Boston and New York, 1924: 6-8, frontispiece.

1924

Cortissoz, Royal. "The Field of Art." Scribner's Magazine 76 (July 1924). Reprinted as "Early American Portraiture" In Personalities in Art New York and London, 1925: 110.

1927

Mather, Frank Jewett, Jr., Charles Rufus Morey, William James Henderson. The American Spirit in Art. The Pageant of America. 15 vols. Ralph Henry Gabriel, ed. New Haven, 1927: 10, repro. ("Painting" by Mather).

1930

Bolton, Theodore and Harry Lorin Binsse. "John Singleton Copley." The Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 118.

1936

An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley, Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937: no. 5.

1937

Morgan, John Hill. "Some Notes on John Singleton Copley." Antiques 31 (March 1937): 117.

1937

Shipton, Clifford K., ed. Sibley's Harvard Graduates. Vol. 5, Biographical Sketches of those who attended Harvard College in the Classes 1701-1712. Boston, 1937: 645-646, repro. opp. 645.

1938

Parker, Barbara Neville and Anne Bolling Wheeler. John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel, and Miniature with Biographical Sketches. Boston, 1938: 11, 171-172, pl. 21.

1939

Morgan, John Hill. John Singleton Copley. Windham, Connecticut, 1939: 12.

1940

Hagen, Oskar. The Birth of the American Tradition in Art. New York, 1940: 101.

1940

Lane, James W. "This Year the Carnegie National." Art News 39 (October 1940): 12, repro. 8.

1942

"Reunion in Minneapolis," Art Digest 17 (15 October 1942): 15.

1949

From Colony to Nation: An Exhibition of American Painting, Silver and Architecture From 1650 to the War of 1812, Exh. cat. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1949: no. 29.

1950

Barker, Virgil. "Copley's American Portraits." Magazine of Art 43 (March 1950): 83.

1951

Walker, John. Paintings from America. Harmondsworth, England, 1951: 15, 42, pl. 2.

1960

The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 9.

1962

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Treasures from the National Gallery of Art, New York, 1962: 128, color repro.

1962

Masterpieces of Art, Exh. cat. Seattle World's Fair, 1962: no. 10.

1963

Four Centuries of American Art, Exh. cat. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1963-1964: unnumbered.

1963

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 320, repro.

1965

John Singleton Copley, Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966: no. 14.

1966

Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:392, color repro.

1966

Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966, pp. 33-34, 42, 77, 84, 156-157, 180-181, 190-191, 227-228, fig. 89, no. 275.

1966

Prown, Jules David. "The Art Historian and the Computer; An Analysis of Copley's Patronage 1753-1774." The Smithsonian Journal of History 1, no. 4 (1966): 27, 30.

1970

American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 46, repro.

1975

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 390, fig. 562, color repro.

1976

American Art: 1750-1800, Towards Independence, Exh. cat. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1976: no. 11.

1976

The Classical Spirit in American Portraiture, Exh. cat. Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, 1976: no. 3.

1976

Wilmerding, John. American Art. Hammondsworth, England, and New York, 1976: 36-37, pl. 34.

1980

American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 138, repro.

1980

Perkins and Gavin 1980, 40.

1980

Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 13, 44, repro.

1981

Quick, Michael. "Princely Images in the Wilderness: 1720-1775." American Portraiture in the Grand Manner: 1720-1920 Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1981: 19.

1981

Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 13 (detail), 21, color repro. 42.

1984

Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 387, no. 547, color repro.

1986

Yarnall and Gerdts 1986, 1:825, nos. 19962 and 19963.

1988

Fleischer, Roland E. "Emblems and Colonial American Painting." The American Art Journal 20, no. 3 (1988): 31-32, repro.

1988

Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 52, repro.

1992

American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 147, repro.

1992

National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 208, repro.

1995

Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 24-28, color repro. 26.

2004

Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 290, no. 234, color repro.

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