(From Sketchbook)
1810–20
Medium
Ink, wash, on paper
Dimensions
9 x 11 1/2 in. (22.9 x 29.2 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.182.42 recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate ink and wash drawing on paper, hailing from Thomas Sully's sketch (ca. 1810–20), offers a glimpse into the preparatory world of one of America's foremost portrait painters. Sully, a British-born artist who settled in Philadelphia, was a master of the Romantic style, blending the elegant brushwork of Sir Joshua Reynolds with a distinctly American vitality. Active during the early 19th century, captured the likenesses of presidents, celebrities, and everyday figures, amassing over 2,600 works. This modest sheet (9 x 11½ in.), now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, l...
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...