John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815). <em>Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon</em>, 1770. Oil on canvas, 29 13/16 × 24 11/16 in. (75.7 × 62.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter H. Crittenden, 22.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.84_PS20.jpg)

John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815). Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon, 1770. Oil on canvas, 29 13/16 × 24 11/16 in. (75.7 × 62.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter H. Crittenden, 22.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.84_PS20.jpg)

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The paintings in this room are similar to paintings I see in UK galleries but sort of less fussy, more like photos. Are they considered "cruder" artworks (than a Reynolds for instance) by art historians? The label says the artists are self-taught.

In that particular gallery space, curators were interested in expanding the idea of "America." Paintings from Dutch and British colonial United States are placed with paintings from the Spanish colonies in South America.

Many of the artists were self-taught, yes. At the time there were no art schools or museums in the colonies. A number of them used prints of European portraits, mainly British and Dutch, as source material. There was a desire to reflect European styles which, for artists who did not have the same sort of training, was a way of showing that the artist and the patrons were "cultured" individuals.

So would they be less expensive (then and now) then "equivalent status" European artists' work?

Possibly. A number of portrait painters, especially those who weren't established in many centers, were itinerant.

Interesting. Kind of reminds me of Indian "company paintings"... like Western art but not quite.

There is a sense of that as well. Despite distance and the manner of artistic training, colonial audiences wanted the sort of material they were either familiar with from home or knew were popular in European circles.

Same same different, if you know what I mean. Thanks a lot!

Tell me more.

Elizabeth Goldthwaite was one of 13 children of Ezekiel Goldthwite, a wealthy North Boston merchant. At age thirty she was married to the Reverend Alexander Cumming who died a month after the marriage. She later remarried seven years later to Reverend John Bacon. She died in 1821.

Copley carefully painted the details and textures of her silk gown and lace. Those materials would have been imported and they showed her wealth and social status!

Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon

John Singleton Copley

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

In these two paintings, Abigail Pickman and Elizabeth Goldthwaite sat for their marriage portraits. As was typical of upper-class white women in the colonial United States, they likely did not control how they were represented in these images, which were intended to project the family’s stability and wealth.

Before the American Revolution, the Boston painter John Singleton Copley was the most sought-after artist in the country. Copley’s portraits, highly regarded for their skillful rendering of luxurious items such as silks and pearls, were synonymous with the tastes of the eighteenth-century social elite, both in the United States and England.

ARTIST John Singleton Copley, American, 1738–1815

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

DATES 1770

DIMENSIONS 29 13/16 × 24 11/16 in. (75.7 × 62.7 cm) frame: 35 1/2 × 30 5/8 × 2 3/4 in. (90.2 × 77.8 × 7 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed lower right (initials in monogram): "J S C p. Bost 1770"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 22.84

CREDIT LINE Gift of Walter H. Crittenden

PROVENANCE 1770, commissioned from the artist by Elizabeth Goldthwaite Cumming (Mrs. Alexander Cumming, later Mrs. John Bacon); by 1873, inherited from Elizabeth Goldthwaite Cumming Bacon by Elizabeth Bacon Colt (Mrs. Elizabeth G. Colt) of Pittsfield, MA; 1890, inherited from Elizabeth Bacon Colt by Fannie Elizabeth Colt of Pittsfield, MA; before 1922, inherited by Walter Hayden Crittenden of Brooklyn, NY; December 13, 1922, gift of Walter Hayden Crittenden to the Brooklyn Museum.

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MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

CAPTION John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815). Mrs. Alexander Cumming, née Elizabeth Goldthwaite, later Mrs. John Bacon, 1770. Oil on canvas, 29 13/16 × 24 11/16 in. (75.7 × 62.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter H. Crittenden, 22.84 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.84_PS20.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 22.84_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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