Abraham Kintzing1815
Thomas Sully painted this in 1815, aged 32. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
This painting is a portrait of a man from the waist up. He is facing us, with pale skin, thin lips, rosy cheeks, light green eyes, and gray hair styled into curls around his ears. He has a neutral expression. The man is wearing a dark coat with gold buttons on the front, with a pale-yellow shirt underneath and a white cravat around his neck. The background is a dark and indistinct brown color.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
Thomas Sully painted this in 1815, aged 32. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Thomas Sully
American, 1783–1872 · Born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sully was taken from England to America as a child by his actor parents and settled in Philadelphia in 1808. After brief study with Gilbert Stuart, he went to London, where he worked under Benjamin West and came under the influence of Thomas Lawrence. He became Philadelphia’s leading portraitist, known for graceful, flattering likenesses in a fluid manner. In 1838 he returned to London to paint the young Queen Victoria, the year after her accession.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1942.8.35
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Painting
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
