Important Early American Artists #4: John Singleton Copley

By J. M. Hochstetler

John Singleton Copley, Self Portrait (1780-84)

When I was in school I loved art class, and although it’s been a number of years since I’ve done any drawing or painting, my interest in the visual arts has continued throughout my life. Which is why I’ve been focusing on important early American artists in my last 3 three posts. Today I’m going to wrap up the series by taking a look at John Singleton Copley, who became famous in both America and England for his portraits and paintings of historical subjects and is generally acclaimed as the finest artist in colonial America.

Copley was born July 3, 1738, most likely in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard and Mary Copley. Richard was from Limerick, while Mary was a Singleton from County Clare whose family was of Lancashire origin. They immigrated to Boston in 1736 and owned a tobacco shop on Long Wharf. Richard apparently arrived in America in ill health, however, and around the time of John's birth went to the West Indies, where he died in either 1737 or 1748, depending on the source you consult. In any case, he died previous to Mary’s wedding Peter Pelham on May 22, 1748.

Paul Revere (1768-70)

Little is known of Copley’s childhood. Pelham painted portraits and was an excellent engraver, however, which undoubtedly set Copley on the path to a career as a painter. Young Copley was around fourteen when his stepfather died, and about that same age Copley painted his half-brother Charles Pelham, his earliest extant portrait. More promising works followed during the next few years, and by the time he was 20 he was steadily employed in painting portraits. Copley’s works reveal a detailed knowledge of New England people and culture. Influenced by the Rococo style of Joseph Blackburn, Copley portrayed his subjects with objects relevant to their personal lives, like this one of Paul Revere, which gave his portraits an intimate sense of the person’s character and interests that was rare 18th-century American painting.

A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (1765)

Commissions from the foremost members of New England society made Copley a prosperous man. His income, extraordinary for New England in the 1760s, elevated him to the Boston aristocracy. But he was eager for wider recognition. In 1766 Benjamin West, a fellow countryman who had moved to London to pursue his own art career, entered Copley’s painting A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (1765), at left, in the annual Exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain. The subject is Copley’s half-brother, Henry Pelham, seated at a table playing with a pet squirrel, and it gained Copley’s election as a Fellow of the Society. West urged him to come to England to study for several years, but although Copley continued to send pictures to the Exhibition, he hesitated to risk the prosperity he enjoyed in Boston for an uncertain future in England.

Copley Family (1776-77)

On November 16, 1769 Copley married a woman of impeccable social status. Susanna Farnham Clarke was the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Winslow) Clarke. Her father had become very wealthy as an agent of the East India Company in Boston, and her mother’s ancestors had arrived in America on the Mayflower. By all accounts the Copleys’ marriage was not only socially notable, but also a happy one. Susanna was a beautiful, poised woman, whose portrait Copley painted several times. He and Susanna welcomed six children into their family in a house he built on the west side of Beacon Hill, where they lived as members of the top tier of Boston society.

The only substantial time Copley left Boston during this period was in 1771 and 1772, when he spent seven-months painting in New York City and Philadelphia as the political situation in Boston was deteriorating. The tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party had been consigned to his father-in-law, and his extended family were all Loyalists, which made it increasingly dangerous for him to stay in the area. He finally heeded the urging of West and others and sailed for England in June 1774 as many other American artists had done before him, leaving his mother, wife, and children behind until he could secure lodgings. In England he received a warm reception from West and England’s art community. In 1775 while he traveled through France and Italy to study the great works of art, his wife and children arrived in London, where they stayed with her brother-in-law, Henry Bromfield. Susanna’s father and brothers soon joined them in London. After Copley’s return he and his family settled in 25 George St., Hanover Square, where Copley, Susanna, and their son, John Singleton Copley, Jr., the future Lord Lyndhurst, lived until their deaths.

Watson and the Shark (1778)

Encouraged by the success of West and others, Copley ventured outside of portraiture and began to paint more historical pieces. His first important work in the genre was Watson and the Shark (1778), at left, which portrays an incident involving his friend and fellow artist Brook Watson, who at the age of 14 lost a leg in a shark attack while swimming in Havana harbor. The painting foreshadows one of the great themes of 19th-century Romantic art: man’s struggle against nature. Copley’s historical paintings were so successful because he went to great lengths to create excellent likenesses of the people in them and to include correct details of the historical period. He traveled throughout England to make studies of old portraits of the subjects he intended to paint as well as the actual historical locations. At the same time he continued to paint portraits of English royalty and famous British and American individuals.

Copley was elected as an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1776 and made a full member in 1783. Likely more politically liberal than his relatives, he maintained contact with many New Englanders, painting portraits of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and other Bostonians when they visited England, and in 1791 he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His daughter Elizabeth married wealthy Gardiner Greene of Boston, whose descendants preserved much of the Copley family’s correspondence for posterity.

John Adams (1783)

Ultimately, although Copley’s intensive work habits certainly contributed to his success, the long hours at the easel and lack of regular exercise also took a toll on his health and disposition. A granddaughter recalled that he usually painted continuously from early morning until evening, when his wife or one of their daughters would read to him. In his latter years he struggled with depression made worse by the expense of maintaining his household and educating his son, John Singleton Copley, Jr., who in adulthood became a brilliant lawyer. As Copley’s own career waned, paintings that took years of labor remained unsold, forcing him to borrow heavily to cover household expenses. His physical and mental health declined as well, and he died of a stroke on September 9, 1815, deeply in debt. His daughter Mary wrote that “He was perfectly resigned and willing to die, and expressed his firm trust in God, through the merits of our Redeemer.” He was buried in Croydon Minster in Croydon, Surrey.

Copley became the greatest and most influential painter in colonial America, with a legacy that extended well into the nineteenth century. In Britain his greatest achievement was in developing contemporary history painting as a combination of history, idealism, and theater. Boston’s Copley Square, Copley Square Hotel, and Copley Plaza are named after him, as are Copley Township in Summit County, Ohio, and the Copley crater on the planet Mercury. In 1965 the U.S. Postal Service issued a 5-cent stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of his death that features his daughter, Elizabeth Clark Copley, from his Portrait of the Copley Family (1776) above.

In this series I’ve covered John Trumbull, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, and now John Singleton Copley. Please check out the links to those articles in their names above and answer the following questions.

1. What do you find the most interesting about one of these artists?

2. Which painting by any one of the artists are you most drawn to?
Please share, and I’ll share mine too!

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J. M. Hochstetler is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history. She is a professional editor, a publisher, and the author of award-winning historical fiction whose books have been endorsed by bestselling authors such as Lori Benton, Laura Frantz, and Jocelyn Green. Her American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive historical fiction series on the American Revolution. Book 6, Refiner’s Fire, released in 2019, and one more volume, Forge of Freedom, will complete the series. She is also the author of One Holy Night, the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year, and co-authored the award-winning Northkill Amish Series with Bob Hostetler.

Early American Artists: Benjamin West

By J. M. Hochstetler

My last post was about John Trumbull, often called the “Painter of the American Revolution.” In my next few posts I’m going to take a look at several of the most important early American artists. Today we’ll focus on Benjamin West, who received great acclaim while living in London as the “American Raphael” and significantly influenced Trumbull and many other American artists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Birthplace of Benjamin West

West was born on October 10, 1738, the tenth child in a Quaker family in Springfield, Pennsylvania, where his parents ran a small inn in a house that is preserved on the Swarthmore College campus. The family later moved to Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where his father was the proprietor of the Square Tavern, which still stands. Although the simple Quaker life offered little in the way of art, young Benjamin showed artistic talent early on. One day while his mother was out of the house, he found some pots of ink and drew his little sister Sally’s portrait. When his mother returned she exclaimed, “Why, it’s Sally!” and kissed him. In later years he noted, “My mother’s kiss made me a painter.” His memoir, The Life and Studies of Benjamin West (1816, 1820), relates that Indians taught him how to make paint by mixing clay and bear grease. Although he excelled as an artist, he received little education and admitted that even when he was president of the English Royal Academy he could scarcely spell.

Self Portrait, Benjamin West, 1776

In 1756 West moved to Philadelphia to study painting, and by the time he was 20 he was a successful portrait painter. However, his classical painting Death of Socrates, based on an engraving in Rollin’s Ancient History, but with significant differences from the original, soon brought him to the notice of a wider audience. Considered “the most ambitious and interesting painting produced in colonial America,” it attracted wealthy and politically connected patrons, whose numbers grew throughout his career due to his amiable personality and attractive appearance. He was close friends with Benjamin Franklin and not only painted his portrait, but also later made him godfather to his second son.

West’s trip to Italy in 1760 to further his art training was financed by several patrons. In 1763, on his way home to America, he stopped off in London, where he showed his paintings of historical scenes in the new neoclassical style to great public acclaim, including from King George III. His American patrons advised him to stay in London, and he did so, moving into a house in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, and in 1765 marrying Elizabeth Shewell, a fellow American.

Death of General Wolfe

West became best known for his large-scale historical paintings using expressive figures, colors and compositions, which he called “epic representation.” His most famous painting, The Death of General Wolfe (1770) in which the Wolfe is depicted wearing period-correct uniform rather than traditional classical robes, was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1771 and became one of the most frequently reproduced images of the period. As a result of the acclaim and controversy it inspired, West was appointed historical painter to the king in 1772 at an annual fee of £1,000 and was given a residence and studio at Windsor Castle.

West’s personality and good looks continued to make him a favorite in society and held the king’s confidence throughout the turmoil of the American Revolution. The two men were quickly on intimate terms, often discussing the state of art in England and the establishment of a Royal Academy of Arts, which became a reality in 1768, with the famous artist Sir Joshua Reynolds as its first president. Among the many paintings West completed are nine portraits of members of the royal family, including two of the king. He was appointed Surveyor of the King’s Pictures in 1791, a position he held for the rest of his life. On Reynolds’ death in 1792, West was elected president of the Royal Academy of Arts and held that position, except for one year, until his own death at his house in Newman Street, London, on March 11, 1820. He was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral.

Joshua passing the River Jordan
with the Ark of the Covenant, 1800

West maintained that, “Art is the representation of human beauty, ideally perfect in design, graceful and noble in attitude.” Yet his paintings are not the only reason for his important place in American art. He acted as counselor, teacher, and friend to three generations of American artists who came to England to study under him, providing them advice, instruction, food, money and even jobs as studio assistants as needed. His collection of artworks of the old masters and casts of classical sculptures offered a gallery they could study when no comparable public collection existed. Three generations of American artists traveled abroad to study under him, among them John Trumbull, Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale, and John Singleton Copley. His influence on the development of art in America was extensive, and he was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791.

Do you think the visual arts are important in culture and society? How and why? Please share your thoughts!

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J. M. Hochstetler is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history. She is a professional editor, a publisher, and the author of award-winning historical fiction whose books have been endorsed by bestselling authors such as Lori Benton, Laura Frantz, and Jocelyn Green. Her American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive historical fiction series on the American Revolution. Book 6, Refiner’s Fire, released in 2019. She is also the author of One Holy Night, the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year, and co-authored the award-winning Northkill Amish Series with Bob Hostetler.