John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) was an American-born painter known for portraits of colonial North Americans and later history paintings made in Britain.

Paul Revere (painting): A circa 1768 portrait by Copley showing silversmith Paul Revere holding a silver teapot. Its informal pose and unidealized likeness exemplify Copley’s colonial portraiture.
Boston: A city in Massachusetts that was a major political and commercial center of colonial New England. Copley built his early portrait practice in this colonial port.
Henry Pelham: A Boston artist and cartographer, and John Singleton Copley’s half-brother. Copley portrayed him as a boy in Boy with a Squirrel.
Portrait painting: The practice of representing a particular person in visual form. Portraiture was the foundation of Copley’s reputation in colonial America.
American portrait painting: Portraiture produced in the United States and its colonial predecessors. Copley’s precise likenesses became a major reference point for later American portraitists.
Boy with a Squirrel: A 1765 portrait by Copley of his half-brother Henry Pelham holding a pet squirrel. Copley sent this portrait to London, where its reception helped establish his reputation abroad.
Peter Pelham: An English-born artist, engraver, and dancing master who worked in colonial Boston. Copley’s stepfather provided an artistic and commercial household in Boston.
Margaret Kemble Gage: A New Jersey-born woman who married British general Thomas Gage in 1758. Copley’s portrait of her is among his notable images of colonial elites.
Tenebrism: A painting technique that uses sharp contrasts between illuminated figures and dark backgrounds. Copley used concentrated light and shadow to give some portraits depth and presence.
Royal Academy of Arts: A London institution founded in 1768 to promote the visual arts through exhibitions and education. Copley exhibited and gained standing within Britain’s principal art institution.

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