The Art of a New Nation

andEarly American

Portraits

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Emanuel Leutz

(1738-1815)The foremost artist of colonial America and one of its most prolific. Copley was born on July 3, 1738, in Boston, and was trained by his stepfather, a mezzotint engraver. Copley's early work shows the influence of the Boston painter John Smibert and of English rococo portraitists. From the latter he learned the device of the portrait d'apparat, in which artifacts used by the subject are included in the portrait, as in Paul Revere (1768?, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), an intense likeness of the patriot-silversmith holding one of his silver teapots.

Paul Revere

Painter John Singleton Copley

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), American portrait painter, born in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. He grew up in nearby Newport, where he studied painting before going briefly to Edinburgh in the early 1770s and to London in 1775. In London he became the pupil of expatriate American painter Benjamin West and was greatly influenced by the work of English portrait painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. In 1792, after having established himself as a fashionable portraitist in London and Dublin, Stuart decided to return to the United States, where he achieved lasting fame.

Early American Portrait PainterGilbert Stuart

George Washington

Other Portraits by Gilbert Stuart

John Adams

Abigail Smith Adams

John Jay

Mrs. Richard Yates

Notice the clothing styles

and details.

Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826), third president of the United States (1801-1809) and author of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the most

brilliant individuals in history. His interests were boundless, and his accomplishments were great and varied. He was a philosopher, educator, naturalist, politician, scientist, architect, inventor, pioneer in scientific farming, musician, and

writer, and he was the foremost spokesman for democracy of his day.

Monticello was home to Thomas Jefferson. He designed the 35-room house which was completed in 1809.

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Architecture

Questions

1. What can a colonial portrait tell us about the subject?

2. What was Paul Revere holding in his hands? Why?

3. What was the style of dress in colonial times?

4. What might a portrait artist include in a portrait of Thomas Jefferson?

Start over and review

The Art of a New Nation and Early American Portraits

Produced by

Julie Sanford

Eagle Crest Academy Holland, MI

8.jsanford@herritageacademies.com