Thomas Greene

The portraits created in New England and New York by John Singleton Copley, the most gifted painter in colonial America, stand today among the finest in the nation's history. Guided only by English mezzotint engravings and by the works of a few less talented painters, Copley was painting sophisticated works such as "Thomas Greene" by the time he was twenty years old. In the portraits he made before 1775, when he moved to England, Copley meshed conventions of English portraiture with an exacting realism. He possessed astounding powers of observation, matched by an ability to replicate the tactile sense and appearance of materials. These qualities attracted patrons; between 1758 and 1761, these were principally Loyalists living on the south side of Boston who aspired to the rank of the English aristocracy. The luxuriant stuffs Copley rendered so exquisitely announced their owners’ status.

Thomas Greene, a merchant born into a prominent family, was one of Copley's Boston patrons. Copley portrays Greene as a prosperous businessman, elegantly dressed and surrounded by opulent brocade fabrics and velvet drapery. Through the window at the right, a ship flying the British flag represents Greene’s allegiance and mercantile pursuits. The date September 25, 1758, which appears on the paper in the sitter’s hand, is probably the date of the painting. The portrait is one of a pair, now separated; its mate shows the sitter’s second wife, Martha Coit Greene. (The latter is now in a private collection.)