Copley Portraits
Feb. 8th, 2026 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphilo A few more Copley portraits, then we're done.
There aren't so many famous faces in Copley's gallery- not like there are in Reynolds's or Lawrence's. They were the fashionable image makers. Copley scored some celebs in his early days in America- but once he moved to London he was no longer the big fish in the small pond. He picked up one or two royal commissions but his sitters were mostly of the middling sort.
Painting portraits provided a living but the artists would mostly have preferred to be doing something else. Copley, like Reynolds, wanted to do history paintings, Gainsborough wanted to do landscapes- but portraits, portraits, portraits was what the punters wanted. If a lot of 18th century portraits are kinda boring it's because the painters themselves were bored.
Anyway, at his best, Copley is damn good.
This first picture is from his American period. You can pick them out by their dark backgrounds. Once he moved to England he lightened up.
I think this is American too. I mean, that's such an American face. As he moved into the larger world he became more adventurous in the way he posed his subjects. Also his grasp of anatomy improved.
Here's a nice young man. Full length for a change.
What a lively group portrait.! That'll be the longed for son and heir who's reaching up to his daddy- the bluff, red-faced English squire. The wife looks bored, like she wishes she were anywhere else. Aren't the kids done well!
Copley doesn't flatter, but he has a way of making his people look intelligent. I think you could have an interesting conversation with this sensible-looking lady. Again what an assured colourist he is: golden brown, red, pink- delicious! He's not a flashy painter but he knows what he's doing.
Finally one of Copley's ritzier clients. Admiral Lord Howe. You'll find him in the history books. What a great character study! Howe has seen it all and it has made him sad.....
There aren't so many famous faces in Copley's gallery- not like there are in Reynolds's or Lawrence's. They were the fashionable image makers. Copley scored some celebs in his early days in America- but once he moved to London he was no longer the big fish in the small pond. He picked up one or two royal commissions but his sitters were mostly of the middling sort.
Painting portraits provided a living but the artists would mostly have preferred to be doing something else. Copley, like Reynolds, wanted to do history paintings, Gainsborough wanted to do landscapes- but portraits, portraits, portraits was what the punters wanted. If a lot of 18th century portraits are kinda boring it's because the painters themselves were bored.
Anyway, at his best, Copley is damn good.
This first picture is from his American period. You can pick them out by their dark backgrounds. Once he moved to England he lightened up.
I think this is American too. I mean, that's such an American face. As he moved into the larger world he became more adventurous in the way he posed his subjects. Also his grasp of anatomy improved.
Here's a nice young man. Full length for a change.
What a lively group portrait.! That'll be the longed for son and heir who's reaching up to his daddy- the bluff, red-faced English squire. The wife looks bored, like she wishes she were anywhere else. Aren't the kids done well!
Copley doesn't flatter, but he has a way of making his people look intelligent. I think you could have an interesting conversation with this sensible-looking lady. Again what an assured colourist he is: golden brown, red, pink- delicious! He's not a flashy painter but he knows what he's doing.
Finally one of Copley's ritzier clients. Admiral Lord Howe. You'll find him in the history books. What a great character study! Howe has seen it all and it has made him sad.....
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Date: 2026-02-08 03:22 pm (UTC)