Male [Breaking Fall]; Male Gesturing Toward Dog; Female on Step Leaning Against Column by Foliage (from Sketchbook)

Art Historical Context

This lively sketchbook page by Thomas Sully, a leading American portraitist of the early 19th, captures three dynamic vignettes from around 1810–20: a man dramatically breaking his fall, another gesturing toward a playful dog, and a woman leaning gracefully against a column lush foliage on steps. Sully, renowned for his elegant portraits of American elites and his time studying in London under influences like Sir Thomas Lawrence, often filled his sketchbooks with spontaneous studies to refine poses, expressions, and compositions for larger works. Executed in ink and wash on paper—a fluid medi...

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...