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Samuel Verplanck, 1771
John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815)
Oil on canvas; 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Gift of James De Lancey Verplanck, 1939 (39.173)
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Description
John Singleton Copley executed this portrait on his only trip to New York, in 1771, when the artist also painted Samuel's son Daniel Crommelin Verplanck and his brother Gulian Verplanck. At that time Copley was an established painter in Boston who had proved himself to be remarkably adept at capturing the image and character of Boston's anglophile merchants. Copley was drawn to New York in the wake of the success of his portrait of Commander Thomas Gage, who was headquartered there but sat for Copley on a visit to Boston. Copley began a portrait of Gage's wife, Margaret Kemble, within three days of his arrival in New York. During his stay, from mid-June through December, he executed portraits at a faster rate and at a higher fee than was his custom in Boston, thereby reaching the pinnacle of his financial success in America. The portrait of Samuel Verplanck (1739–1820) descended in the family until they donated it to the Metropolitan as part of the Verplanck Room.
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