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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 - (MeisterDrucke-14691).jpg "Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mifflin (Sarah Morris) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Watson and the Shark 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 "Study for \"The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar\" by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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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 "Portrait of William II, King of the Netherlands, when Prince of Orange 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")
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.jpg "The Western Brothers, 1783 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 "Captain W. Fairfax, figure study for the painting of Victory of Lord Duncan by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Woman, 1755 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Adams, from")
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.jpg "Abigael Bromfield Rogers 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 "Richard Heber, 1782 by John Singleton Copley")
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_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-573970).jpg "Portrait of Mrs Gawen Brown (Elizabeth Byles), 1763 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Jane Browne by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Latitia F. Balfour by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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.jpg "Study for Captain William George Fairfax for the Painting")
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.jpg "Catherine Greene 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 "Thomas Hancock by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Lucretia Chandler, Mrs. John Murray by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1299209).jpg "Portrait of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793) by John Singleton Copley")
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_(1730-68)_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-575614).jpg "Mrs John Murray (Lucretia Chandler) by John Singleton Copley")
_(1730-68)_1763_-_(MeisterDrucke-575614).jpg)
_from_National_-_(MeisterDrucke-107801).jpg "George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of William II, King of the Netherlands by Charles Turner")
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 after a drawing of the original by James Barton Longacre (1794-1869) - (MeisterDrucke-198025).jpg "Samuel Adams, engraved by G.F. Storm after a drawing of the original by James Barton Longacre by John Singleton Copley")
 after a drawing of the original by James Barton Longacre (1794-1869) - (MeisterDrucke-198025).jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-16217).jpg "Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner) by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Dorothy Murray 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 "Mrs. Robert Hyde by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for")
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.jpg "Admiral Richard, Earl of Howe, 1794 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Sketch for")
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.jpg "Ascension by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1425324).jpg "John Bours, c.1763 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Miniature Portrait of Sir John St. Clair by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "General George Augustus Eliott on a Grey Charger, study for")
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.jpg "The Death of Major Pierson, 6 January 1781 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 "Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Anne Fairchild Bowler Mrs. Metcalf Bowler, c. 1763 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "George John, 2nd Earl Spencer, c.1799-1806 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Study for the Central Group in the")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Lady by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Greenleaf by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Midshipman Augustus Brine by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs. Benjamin Hallowell by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Richard Heber by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Henry Laurens 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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.jpg "Study for The Red Cross Knight by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1426141).jpg "Portrait of William Murray by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Mrs. Joseph Henshaw by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Prince Regent as a Hussar by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of a gentleman by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-901550).jpg "Portrait of a Boy, c.1758-60 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "John Greenleaf, c.1755-58 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Robert Hyde, Squire of Hyde by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of a Boy by John Singleton Copley")
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_c1771-74_-_(MeisterDrucke-589326).jpg "Portrait of Mrs. Jabez Bowen (Sara Brown), c.1771-74 by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1453302).jpg "Sir Brook Watson, c.1796 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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.jpg "The Return of Neptune by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Rev. Mr. William Welsteed of Boston, New England, c.1753 by John Singleton Copley")
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_c1765-70_(see_183417_for_pair)_-_(MeisterDrucke-575615).jpg "John Bours by John Singleton Copley")
_c1765-70_(see_183417_for_pair)_-_(MeisterDrucke-575615).jpg)
.jpg "Robert Hooper by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Henry Laurens by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of William Murray, Earl of Mansfield by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Copley Family by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "A Hussar Officer on Horseback by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Mrs Clark Gayton by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Isaac Smith by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar, 14th September 1782 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Drapery Study, Two Figures Pulling a Pole, 1785-86 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Elizabeth Greenleaf by John Singleton Copley")
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_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 "Catherine Greene by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Jane Browne by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-898683).jpg "Portrait of General Thomas Gage, c.1768 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Lydia Henchman Hancock by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Nathaniel Hurd by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1174526).jpg "John Burgwin (1731–1803) by John Singleton Copley")
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 c1764 - (MeisterDrucke-118498).jpg "Elizabeth Gray Otis (Mrs. Samuel Alleyne Otis) by John Singleton Copley")
 c1764 - (MeisterDrucke-118498).jpg)
.jpg "The Siege and Relief of Gibraltar, pub. 1810 by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Baron Graham by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Hugh Montgomerie, later 12th Earl of Eglinton by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Death of the Earl of Chatham by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Centenary of the Battle of Jersey, The Death of Major Pierson 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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.jpg "Eleazer Tyng by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "Thomas Hollis by John Singleton Copley")
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.jpg "A Hussar Officer on Horseback by John Singleton Copley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1457476).jpg "William II of the Netherlands by John Singleton Copley")
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_c_1763_(oil_on_canvas)_-_(MeisterDrucke-1427158).jpg "Anne Fairchild Bowler (Mrs. Metcalf Bowler) by John Singleton Copley")
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