biography
| name: |
Copley, John Singleton
|
pronunciation:
[koplee]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1738–1815)
|
| biography:
| Painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The stepson of Peter Pelham, he is considered the foremost portrait painter in colonial America. He settled in England (1775) at the urging of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West. Although his family was Loyalist, he himself remained neutral during the American Revolution. In England he produced successful works of historical subjects, such as ‘Death of Major Peirson’ (1782–4). His reputation is based on his early American work, such as ‘Boy with Squirrel’ (1765) and a portrait of his half-brother, Henry Pelham. ‘Watson and the Shark’ (1778) is his most famous narrative painting. |
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