John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) was an American painter who is widely regarded as the finest artist of colonial America. He was born to Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Anglo-Irish, on July 3, 1738 in Boston, Massachusetts. His early life and education greatly influenced his career as a portraitist in colonial New England. Later in his career, he moved to London where he achieved great success as a history painter.
Throughout his impressive career spanning over several decades, Copley produced around 350 paintings which have become global masterpieces. He was known for portraying the wealthy people accurately and realistically in his portraits to an unprecedented degree. As a result of this success, he became arguably the most financially successful portraitist in colonial America.
Copley’s fame allowed him to travel frequently between Britain and America before he permanently settled there after the American Revolution began. During that time, Copley moved away from just being a portraitist towards painting historical events scenes. John Singleton Copley left behind numerous works of art that have made him one of the greatest painters of not just colonial American times but also global art history.
In conclusion, John Singleton Copley’s achievements were unique compared to other artists during his time period making him stand out among them. His work has inspired many artists all over North America and Europe which are still highly celebrated till this day thanks to its accuracy and realism standards set forth by John Singleton Copley himself.
All John Singleton Copley Artwork on Artchive
Artwork Name |
Year |
Medium |
Mrs.James Warren (Mercy Otis) |
c.1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Jerathmael Bowers |
c.1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.John Murray (Lucretia Chandler) |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.John Scoally (Mercy Greenleaf) |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. John Winthrop (Hannah Fayerweather) |
1773 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Moses Gill (Rebecca Boylston) |
1773 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Nathaniel Allen (Sarah Sargnet) |
c.1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Richard Skinner |
1772 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Roger Morris (Mary Philipse) |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Samuel Hill |
c.1764 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Samuel Quincy |
c.1761 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Seymour Fort |
c.1778 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Sylvanus Bourne |
1766 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Theodore Atkinson Jr |
1765 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Thomas Boylston |
1766 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.William Eppes |
1769 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. William Turner (Ann Dumaresq) |
1767 |
pastel |
Mrs.Woodbury Langdon |
1767 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Thomas Gage |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Abigail Smith Babcock |
c.1774 |
|
Anne Erving, Mrs.Duncan Stewart |
|
|
Ann Tyng |
1756 |
oil,canvas |
Nathaniel Sparhawk |
1764 |
oil,canvas |
Nicholas Boylston |
c.1769 |
oil,canvas |
Painting of Samuel learning from Eli |
1780 |
|
Paul Revere |
1768 - 1770 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of a Gentleman |
c.1767 - 1783 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of a Lady |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of a Woman |
1755 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Elizabeth Deering Wentworth Gould Rogers (also known as Mr. Nathaniel Rogers) |
c.1765 |
|
The Copley Family |
1776 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of General Thomas Gage |
1768 - 1769 |
oil,canvas |
Baron Graham |
1804 |
oil,canvas |
Charles Cornwallis, First Marquis of Cornwallis |
c.1795 |
|
Charles I Demanding the Five Members in the House of Commons in 1642 |
1785 |
oil |
Charles Pelham |
c.1753 - 1754 |
oil,canvas |
Clark Gayton, Admiral of the White |
1779 |
oil,canvas |
Colonel John Montresor |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Daniel Crommelin Verplanck |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Dorothy Quincy |
c.1772 |
oil,canvas |
Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal |
1793 |
|
Portrait of George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer |
|
|
Portrait of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton |
1780 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Joseph Warren |
c.1765 |
|
Portrait of Mrs. George Turner |
c.1767 |
pastel |
Portrait of Mrs. Benjamin Pickman (Mary Toppan) |
|
|
Portrait of Mrs.Gawen Brown |
1763 |
pastel,paper |
Portrait of Mrs. John Stevens (Judith Sargent, later Mr. John Murray) |
1770 - 1772 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Mrs.Paul Richard |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Nathaniel Allen |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Nathaniel Hurd |
1765 - 1766 |
oil,canvas |
Ebenezer Storer |
1767 - 1769 |
pastel,paper |
Eleazer Tyng |
1772 |
oil,canvas |
Elizabeth Goldthwaite (Mrs. Alexander Cumming) |
1770 |
oil,canvas |
Elkanah Watson |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
Epes Sargent |
|
oil,canvas |
Epes Sargent II |
c.1764 |
oil,canvas |
Eunice Dennie Burr |
1758 - 1760 |
oil,canvas |
Ezekiel Goldthwait |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Fitch sisters |
1800 |
|
George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield |
|
|
Portrait of Rebecca Boylston |
1767 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of the Salem |
|
oil,canvas |
Portrait of William Murray |
1815 |
oil,canvas |
Portrait of Thomas Flucker |
1770 - 1771 |
oil,canvas |
Rebecca Boylston |
1767 |
oil,canvas |
Reverend Myles Cooper |
1768 - 1769 |
oil,canvas |
Reverend Thomas Cary |
c.1770 - c.1773 |
oil,canvas |
Richard Heber |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
Sailors Maneuvering a Cannon |
1810 |
|
Samuel Adams |
c.1770 - c.1772 |
oil,canvas |
George IV |
c.1809 |
oil,canvas |
George John, 2nd Earl Spencer |
1799 - 1806 |
oil,canvas |
Governor John Wentworth |
|
|
Gregory Towsend |
1756 |
pastel |
Gulian Verplanck |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Head of a Negro |
1777 - 1778 |
oil,canvas |
Henry Addington, First Viscount Sidmouth |
1797 - 1798 |
oil,canvas |
Henry Laurens |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
Henry Pelham |
c.1760 |
oil,canvas |
Hugh Hall |
1758 |
pastel,paper |
Samuel Barrington |
|
|
Samuel Verplanck |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Saul Reproved by Samuel for Not Obeying the Commandments of the Lord |
1798 |
oil,canvas |
Self-portrait |
1769 |
|
Self-portrait |
1784 |
oil,canvas |
Sir William Pepperrell and Family |
1778 |
oil,canvas |
Study for The Ascension |
1774 |
|
Study for The Siege of Gibraltar |
1785 - 1786 |
ink |
Study for The Siege of Gibraltar, Figures Scaling Floating Battery Cannon |
1785 - 1786 |
|
Isaac Smith |
1769 |
oil,canvas |
James Warren |
c.1763 |
oil,canvas |
Jeremiah Lee |
1769 |
oil,canvas |
John, 2nd Viscount Dudley and Ward |
c.1782 - 1803 |
oil,canvas |
John Bours |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
John Hancock |
c.1771 - c.1773 |
oil,canvas |
John Hancock |
1765 |
oil,canvas |
John Hancock |
1770 - 1772 |
oil,canvas |
John Quincy Adams |
1796 |
oil,canvas |
John Spooner |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
Sylvester Gardiner |
c.1772 |
oil,canvas |
Thaddeus Burr |
1758 - 1760 |
oil,canvas |
The Ascension |
1775 |
oil,canvas |
The Death of the Earl of Chatham |
1781 |
oil |
The Forge of Vulcan |
1754 |
oil,canvas |
The Gore Children |
c.1755 |
oil,canvas |
The Major Peirson's Death |
1782 - 1784 |
oil |
The Nativity |
1776 - 1777 |
oil,canvas |
Theodore Atkinson Jr |
c.1757 - 1758 |
oil,canvas |
Joseph Sherburne |
1767 - 1770 |
oil,canvas |
Latitia F. Balfour |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
Lemuel Cox |
1770 |
oil,canvas |
Lucretia Hubbard Towsend |
1765 |
pastel |
Lydia Lynde |
c.1762 - c.1764 |
oil,canvas |
Martin Howard |
1767 |
oil,canvas |
Mary and Elizabeth Royall |
c.1758 |
oil,canvas |
Midshipman Augustus Brine |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
Miles Sherbrook |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Moses Gill |
c.1759 |
|
The Return of Neptune |
c.1754 |
oil,canvas |
The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar |
1783 |
oil,canvas |
The Sitwell Family |
1786 |
oil,canvas |
The three youngest daughters of George III |
1785 |
oil,canvas |
The Tribute Money |
1782 |
oil,canvas |
The Victory of Lord Duncan |
1789 - 1799 |
oil,canvas |
The Western Brothers |
1783 |
oil,canvas |
Thomas Amory II |
c.1770 - c.1772 |
oil,canvas |
Thomas Aston Coffin |
1758 |
oil,canvas |
Thomas Greene |
1758 |
oil,canvas |
Moses Gill |
1764 |
oil,canvas |
Mr.and Mrs.Isaac Winslow |
1773 |
oil,canvas |
Mr.and Mrs. Ralph Izard |
1775 |
oil,canvas |
Mr.and Mrs.Thomas Mifflin |
1773 |
oil |
Mrs. Anna Dummer Powell |
1764 |
|
Mrs. Joseph Barrell (Hannah Fitch) |
c.1771 |
pastel,paper,canvas |
Mrs. Joshua Henshaw II |
c.1772 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Alice Hooper |
c.1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Clark Gayton |
1779 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Daniel Denison Rogers |
c.1784 |
oil,canvas |
Two Equestrian Figures |
1803 - 1813 |
oil,canvas |
William Vassall and His Son Leonard |
c.1770 - c.1772 |
|
Woodbury Langdon |
1767 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Daniel Hubbard (Mary Greene) |
1764 |
oil,cardboard |
Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner Sargent) |
1763 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Ebenezer Storer (Mary Edwards) |
1767 - 1769 |
pastel,paper |
Mrs. Elizabeth Coffin Amory |
1775 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Epes Sargent |
1764 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Ezekiel Gondthwait (Elizabeth Lewis) |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.George Watson (Elizabeth Oliver) |
1765 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs.Humphrey Devereux |
1771 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. Isaac Smith |
1769 |
oil,canvas |
Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) |
c.1770 |
oil,canvas |
Mr. And Mrs. Thomas Mifflin (sarah Morris) |
1773 |
Oil On Ticking |
Nicholas Boylston |
1767 |
Oil On Canvas |
Watson and the Shark |
1782 |
Oil on Canvas |
Paul Revere |
c.1768 - 1770 |
Oil on Canvas |