A Man in a Blue Coat
Artist:
John Singleton Copley
(American, 1738 - 1815)
Place made:Boston, Massachusetts
Date: 1770
Dimensions:
30 x 25 1/8 in. (76.2 x 63.8 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Ewing Halsell Foundation in memory of Clarence Halsell Holmes
Object number: 77.918
Signed: Unsigned
Published References
Gray Boone, "Copley Exhibition Opens," Antique Monthly, January 1976, p. 1c
Label Text
Although the identity of this young man is unknown, this portrait conveys a vivid sense of his personality, due to John Singleton Copley’s technical virtuosity. Whether a slight scowl, the suggestion of five-o-clock shadow on his cheeks, or his powdered hair and blue coat, Copley makes oil paint mimic reality, bringing this anonymous Bostonian alive.
Copley grew up in Boston. After the death of his stepfather, an English printmaker, he supported his widowed mother and younger half-brother by teaching himself to paint, using imported engravings and his own intuitive trials and errors. By the outbreak of the Revolution, when he left America in search of artistic training and future success in Great Britain, he had become the leading artist in the Colonies, acclaimed for his extraordinarily vivid likenesses such as this work.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)
Copley grew up in Boston. After the death of his stepfather, an English printmaker, he supported his widowed mother and younger half-brother by teaching himself to paint, using imported engravings and his own intuitive trials and errors. By the outbreak of the Revolution, when he left America in search of artistic training and future success in Great Britain, he had become the leading artist in the Colonies, acclaimed for his extraordinarily vivid likenesses such as this work.
(William Keyse Rudolph, 2014)
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
