John Singleton Copley Self-Portrait

John Adams once proclaimed John Singleton Copley to be “the greatest Master, that ever was in America.” As a teenager, Copley was already satisfying Bostonians’ desire for realistic portraits. By the time he was twenty, he had grown frustrated by the limitations of his provincial environment, where, he complained, art was regarded as “no more than any other useful trade.”

Copley longed to visit Europe to study great works of art and escape the political turmoil at home. His father-in-law was among the merchants whose tea was dumped in Boston Harbor during the Tea Party of December 1773. Many other family members were loyalists who opposed the growing demand for American independence, as were clients such as Andrew Oliver (whose portrait by Copley is dis-played nearby).

In June 1774, Copley departed for England where, in the flush of new success, he painted this self-por-trait. He never returned to the United States.