Mother and Son
1840
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
57 x 45 3/8 in. (144.8 x 115.3 cm)
Classification
Painting
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Francis T. S. Darley, 1914
Accession Number
14.126.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Sully’s “Mother and Son,” painted in 1840, captures a tender domestic moment in luminous oil on canvas. Measuring nearly five feet tall, the life-size portrait invites viewers into an intimate exchange between a mother and her young son, with dogs resting nearby. As an American work housed in the Metropolitan Museum’s American Wing, it reflects the growing interest in family-centered imagery during the early decades of the nineteenth century. Sully, one of the most sought-after portraitists of his era, brought a graceful, fluid style to his subjects. generous scale and warm palette emp...
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...