Inside Front Cover (from Sketchbook)
1810–20
Medium
Ink, wash, on paper
Dimensions
9 x 11 1/2 in. (22.9 x 29.2 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.182 verso
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Sully's *Inside Front Cover (from Sketchbook)*, created between 1810 and 1820, offers a rare glimpse into the working process of one of America's foremost portrait painters. Born in England but thriving in Philadelphia after immigrating as a child, Sully (1783–1872) became renowned for his elegant portraits of luminaries like Thomas Jefferson and Queen Victoria. This intimate sketchbook page, featuring figures of men and women, the artist's early experimentation during a formative period in his career, amid America's post-Revolutionary cultural flowering. Rendered in ink and wash on pa...
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...