(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
53.182.56 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Sully's *(From Sketchbook)*, created between 1810 and 1820, offers a glimpse into the working process of one of America's foremost portrait painters. Rendered in ink and wash on paper, this intimate 9 x 11½-inch sheet captures dynamic studies of men and horses, preparatory drawings from Sully's personal sketchbook. Housed in The American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it exemplifies early 19th-century American draftsmanship, acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1953. Sully (1783–1872), a Philadelphia-based artist of British descent, blended neoclassical precision with romantic ...
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...