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John Singleton Copley is well known in America as the creator of the finest portraits of the Colonial era. Less well known is the fact that he left America in 1774, when the impending armed struggle between the Colonies and England threatened to destroy his livelihood, and settled in London to pit himself ambitiously against the Old Masters and the English giants of the day. Copley's English career was long and brilliant - and represents the most important period of his working life. During the forty-one years he spent in England, Copley created his great masterpieces of history painting and portraiture that stand as key monuments of British painting. From the earliest days of his career in ...
A lavish, illustrated volume published to accompany an exhibition of Copley's work that will be traveling to several cities during 1996. The focus is on the paintings, miniatures, and pastels that Copley, the supreme portraitist of the colonial era, produced before he moved to London in 1774. Four principal essays place the work in historical and social context and bring new critical methods to bear upon the study of portraits and portraiture; four shorter essays treat various aspects of Copley's art and techniques. Catalog entries detail the sitters' lives and the ways in which Copley enhanced his subjects' status and presence. 10x12.25" Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
A book for both the general reader of American history and the student of art, Flexner's study of Copley (1738-1815) brings into vivid detail the struggle the artist endured against an unfavorable environment in the New World, his rise to fame, the development of his unique style, and the personal growth of the man who became America's first great artist. Copley's life began in the humble surroundings of Boston's waterfront. As a poor boy growing up in a city where no formal art instruction was available, rigorous self-instruction was Copley's only means to his goal of becoming a painter. Through laborious work Copley mastered his craft; the portraits he produced between 1753 and 1774, at th...