Portrait of the Painter

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SELF-PORTRAIT COURTESY WINTERTHUR MUSEUM

John Singleton Copley was born in 1738 to irish immigrants on Boston's Long Wharf. His rise from these humble beginnings to New England's most sought-after portrait painter was nothing less than miraculous, for he was almost entirely self-taught. From his stepfather, a printmaker and dancing master, he learned the engraver's trade and the rudiments of polite behavior; through diligent study of drawing manuals and prints he learned the conventions of British portraiture and developed a style that was both astonishingly realistic and subtly flattering. While scrupulously recording his subjects' every mole and wen, he painted the likes of John Hancock and Mercy Otis Warren in costumes and surroundings designed to conjure up associations with British aristocracy.

During his 20-year career in Boston, Copley painted almost all of the city's political, spiritual, and business leaders--and became their friends. He built a mansion next to John Hancock's on Beacon Street, and sported suits as fashionable as those worn by Boston's elite. And while he was making his mark in New England, Copley was also gaining attention in the international arena: in 1765, he submitted a portrait of his stepbrother Henry Pelham to the prestigious annual exhibition of the Society of Artists in London, where it won the approbation of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West. They encouraged Copley to come to England to try his talents before a more sophisticated audience. Not until 1774, however, when political tensions made artistic pursuits nearly impossible, and by which time he had pretty well exhausted the portrait market in New England, did Copley leave for Europe. He soon established himself as a portrait and history painter of the first rank, and worked in London until his death in 1815.

Although Copley is represented in many museums, his work is concentrated in New England. The Museum of Fine Arts is the major repository of his paintings, drawings, and pastels, with nearly 100 works. Harvard owns some two dozen Copleys from both his American and British careers. Most are housed at the Fogg Art Museum, but others, belonging to the Harvard Portrait Collection, reside in buildings throughout the University.

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