Sketch for The Copley Family1776
This oil sketch relates to The Copley Family, the large group portrait Copley painted in London soon after leaving America, which shows himself, his wife Susanna, their children and his father-in-law. More about this work
About this work
This oil sketch relates to The Copley Family, the large group portrait Copley painted in London soon after leaving America, which shows himself, his wife Susanna, their children and his father-in-law. Here, in loose and rapid paint, he works out part of the arrangement, with his wife and two of the children, John, who would grow up to become Lord Chancellor of Britain, and Mary. The finished painting is also in the National Gallery of Art.
Written by Ochre Editions.
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.
John Singleton Copley
American, 1738–1815 · Born in Boston, Massachusetts; died in London.
Copley was largely self-taught and became colonial America’s finest portraitist, painting Boston merchants and their families with sharp, tactile realism, from glinting silver to polished mahogany. In 1774, on the eve of the Revolution, he left for Europe and settled in London, where he turned to large modern history paintings such as Watson and the Shark and The Death of Major Peirson. He never returned to America.
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
- 1991.141.1
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Painting
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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