(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
53.182.58 recto
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate ink and wash sketch on paper, hailing from Thomas Sully's sketch (ca. 1810–20), offers a glimpse into the working process of one of America's foremost portrait painters. Measuring just 9 x 11½ inches, it captures dynamic figures of men and horses with fluid lines and subtle tonal washes—diluted ink applied to create depth and shadow. Sully, a British-born artist who thrived in Philadelphia, was renowned for his Romantic style, blending Neoclassical elegance with vibrant color in grand portraits of figures like Queen Victoria and Andrew Jackson. As a study from his personal sketc...
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...