Dr. Joseph Klapp
1814
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
91.4 × 71.1 cm (36 × 28 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
96621
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Over the course of his 70-year career, Thomas Sully painted more than two thousand portraits, including Dr. Joseph Klapp and Mrs. Klapp (Anna Milnor) (1950.1362). Joseph Klapp was born and raised in Albany, New York, but studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and settled in Philadelphia. In the portrait, Klapp rests his elbow on a medical text, indicating his profession. The books lining the background of the painting also speak to the sitter’s intellectual prowess. The image of Mrs....
About the Artist
Thomas Sully · 1783–1872
Thomas Sully, born on June 19, 1783, in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to actor parents Matthew Sully and Sarah Chester, emigrated with his family to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1792. Raised in a theatrical environment, young Thomas debuted as a tumbler at age 11 before discovering his artistic talent. He studied miniature painting with his brother Lawrence Sully, brother-in-law Jean Belzon...