(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 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, this intimate sketch from Thomas Sully's sketchbook (ca. 1810–20) captures a female nude in fluid ink and wash on paper, measuring a modest 9 x 11½ inches. Sully, a leading American portrait painter of the early 19th century, trained in England and Philadelphia, where he drew inspiration from British Romantics like Sir Thomas Lawrence. His sketchbooks brim with such preparatory studies, honing his mastery of the human form amid America's burgeoning artistic scene. Rendered with expressive ink lines for contours and subtle wash for ton...
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...