Portrait of a Man
ca. 1830
Medium
Conté crayon and white-chalk heightening on heavy, toned (formerly blue) wove paper
Dimensions
13 3/8 x 8 1/8 in. (34 x 20.6 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A Stewart Walker, 1954
Accession Number
54.181 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Sully's *Portrait of a Man*ca. 1830) captures the refined elegance of early 19th-century Americanure. Sully, a leading Philadelphia-based painter renowned for his Romantic style influenced by British masters like Sir Thomas Lawrence, often created preparatory drawings like this one. Rendered in conté crayon—a durable, compressed charcoal-like medium invented during the French Revolution—with white-chalk heightening luminous highlights, the work is executed on heavy, toned wove paper (originally blue). Measuring 13 3/8 x 8 1/8 inches, its intimate scale invites close contemplation of the...
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...