Only a few painters became famous as young people thanks to their talent. John Singleton Copley, who grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, as the son of Anglo-Irish colonists, is certainly a prime example of this. He painted a portrait of his brother at the age of 14. He earned his first money at the age of fifteen with a portrait of a local clergyman, and at sixteen he painted his early work "Mars, Venus and Vulcan", which is still famous today. Copley not only fed the family through his art, he also quickly rose to the upper circles of Boston.
During this period of the Seven Years' War for possession of Canada, "America" was considered a rough corner and an eternal source of unrest. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Copley's paintings also caused a sensation in Great Britain from 1766 onwards, especially the portrait "Boy with Squirrel". Critics compared it with Rubens or van Dyck, and recommended an engagement in Europe.
While Boston, in particular, gradually developed into a stronghold of colonial discontent, Copley was emphatically apolitical; his wife's family were all "loyalists" - his father-in-law, Mr. Clarke, was one of the aggrieved importers at the famous "Boston Tea Party". Copley left Massachusetts in 1774, the year the war broke out, and was never to return.
In London Copley began a second career as a history painter. Historical pieces were in great demand in the nationally conscious, up-and-coming island empire of the time. He made his debut with the "Death of the Earl of Chatham" and painted sea pieces such as the surrender of Admiral de Winter, but also religious themes such as "Hagar and Ismael in the Desert".
But Copley did not deny his American roots either. After the independence of the United States, he was the first to dare to paint a ship with the U.S. flag - "Watson and the Shark", a salvation from extreme hardship, became a success on both sides of the Atlantic. Copley painted portraits of many famous Americans during their stays in London, including the later US Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. However, planned visits to the old homeland never came about. The Napoleonic Wars consumed his fortune.
John Singleton Copley is now highly regarded on both sides of the Atlantic. His son John Singleton Copley jr., a brilliant lawyer and jurist, later even became British Lord Chancellor.
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.jpg "The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-14691).jpg "Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mifflin (Sarah Morris) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, 1782 c1783 by John Singleton Copley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-542773).jpg "Portrait of Woodbury Langdon (1739-1805) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1433366).jpg "Mrs. Robert Hyde by George Romney")
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.jpg "Portrait of Mrs. Joseph Henshaw by John Singleton Copley")
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_Demanding_the_Five_Members_in_the_House_of_Commons_in_1642_-_(MeisterDrucke-290510).jpg "Charles I Demanding the Five Members in the House of Commons in 1642 by John Singleton Copley")
_Demanding_the_Five_Members_in_the_House_of_Commons_in_1642_-_(MeisterDrucke-290510).jpg)
_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-573970).jpg "Portrait of Mrs Gawen Brown (Elizabeth Byles), 1763 by John Singleton Copley")
_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-573970).jpg)
_1771_-_(MeisterDrucke-566042).jpg "Portrait of Mrs Paul Richard, nee Elizabeth Garland by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Joseph Scott by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Copley Family by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Andrew Oliver by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1283351).jpg "Mrs. Daniel Hubbard (Mary Greene) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Benjamin Pickman by John Singleton Copley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-16217).jpg "Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Boy by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Thomas Hancock by John Singleton Copley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-15876).jpg "A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham) by John Singleton Copley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-654254).jpg "Abigail Smith Babcock (Mrs. Adam Babcock) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Richard Heber by John Singleton Copley")
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_in_Hunting_Outfit_1764_-_(MeisterDrucke-249759).jpg "Mrs Epes Sargent (Catherine Osborne) in Hunting Outfit, 1764 by John Singleton Copley")
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_(1730-68)_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-575614).jpg "Mrs John Murray (Lucretia Chandler) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. Sylvester Gardiner, née Abigail Pickman, formerly Mrs. William Eppes by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of William II, King of the Netherlands by Charles Turner")
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.jpg "Anna Susan Dummer Powell (1684) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, 1739 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. George Watson by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Figure Study for the Painting of the Victory of Lord Duncan: Study for Sailor Bearing the Dutch Flag by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Lydia Henchman Hancock by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton, 1739 - 1819. Soldier; Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of William II, King of the Netherlands, when Prince of Orange by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Moses Gill, ca. 1759 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for the Central Group in the Death of Earl of Chatham by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Sketch for")
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.jpg "Richard Heber, 1782 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for Captain William George Fairfax for the Painting")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Woman, 1755 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Anna Dummer Powell, 1764 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of a gentleman by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Samuel Verplanck by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1553731).jpg "Mrs. Daniel Denison Rogers (Abigail Bromfield) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1554096).jpg "Portrait of Henry Laurens (1724-1792) by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1300831).jpg "Mrs. Henry Hill (Anna Barrett) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Singleton Copley Self-Portrait by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Death of Major Peirson at St. Helier, Retaking Jersey from the French, 8 January 1781, from")
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.jpg "The Death of the Earl of Chatham, 1779 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Young Lady with a Bird and a Dog by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1345812).jpg "The Death of Major Pierson (1757-1781) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Return of Neptune by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Elizabeth Storer Smith (1726) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Charles Cornwallis, from")
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.jpg "Robert Hooper by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Mrs. John Winthrop by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Sketch for The Copley Family by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Captain W. Fairfax, figure study for the painting of Victory of Lord Duncan by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for The Ascension by John Singleton Copley")
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_first_Earl_of_Howe_commander_of_the_-_(MeisterDrucke-1510202).jpg "Portrait of Admiral Richard Howe, first Earl of Howe, commander of the Channel Fleet in 1794, he participated in the French Revolutionary Wars, off the coast of Ouessant by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Daniel Hubbard by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Thomas Hancock by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1574077).jpg "A Boy with a Flying Squirrel (Henry Pelham) by John Singleton Copley")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1574077).jpg)
.jpg "Study for")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1299209).jpg "Portrait of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "George John Spencer, 1st Lord of the Admiralty in Garter Robes by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1453302).jpg "Sir Brook Watson, c.1796 by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1426141).jpg "Portrait of William Murray by John Singleton Copley")
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_(17171778)_c1770_-_(MeisterDrucke-377234).jpg "Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Isaac Smith by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Henry Laurens by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Singleton Copley Self-Portrait by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar, pub. 1810 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Quincy Adams, the Sixth President of the United States, 1933 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Paul Revere by John Singleton Copley")
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_and_His_Family_1778_-_(MeisterDrucke-377174).jpg "Sir William Pepperrell and His Family by John Singleton Copley")
_and_His_Family_1778_-_(MeisterDrucke-377174).jpg)
.jpg "Epes Sargent by John Singleton Copley")
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_served_under_Horatio_Nelson_(17_-_(MeisterDrucke-1499003).jpg "Portrait of Captain Sir Edward Berry, served under Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Aboukir and the Battle of Trafalgar by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. George Watson by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Drapery Study; Two Figures Pulling a Pole by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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.jpg "Harrison Gray by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Baron Graham by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-993156).jpg "Officers Cheering by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "A Hussar Officer on Horseback by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Baron Graham by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Mrs Daniel Rea and Child by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "General Thomas Gage by John Singleton Copley")
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_c1765-1770_(pastel_on_paper_mounted_on_linen)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1426629).jpg "Mrs. Henry Hill (Anna Barrett) by John Singleton Copley")
_c1765-1770_(pastel_on_paper_mounted_on_linen)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1426629).jpg)
_attempting_to_arrest_five_Members_of_Parliament_published_by_-_(MeisterDrucke-561965).jpg "Charles I (1600-49) attempting to arrest five Members of Parliament, published by Walter Rowlands, 1888 by John Singleton Copley")
_attempting_to_arrest_five_Members_of_Parliament_published_by_-_(MeisterDrucke-561965).jpg)
.jpg "Miniature Portrait of Sir John St. Clair by John Singleton Copley")
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_after_a_drawing_of_the_origin_-_(MeisterDrucke-320965).jpg "Henry Laurens, Engraved by Thomas B. Welch after a Drawing by William G. Armstrong by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Temple by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Adams by John Singleton Copley")
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