Sketchbook of Figure Studies

1810–20

Not on view

Sully arrived home from a year's study in London on April 16 and precisely three months later purchased a fat sketchbook. The top of the first sheet in the book is inscribed “Sketches from different Masters / TS / Philadelphia July 16, 1810.” This notation suggests that Sully intended to continue his study of European art at home. The hundreds of drawings on both sides of eighty-three sheets cover a wide variety of subjects. A site of inspiration and study, the book contains drawings after works by David, possibly Michelangelo, Reynolds, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and other European masters, for the most part taken from prints. Sully was not slavish in using his sources; he took incentive from other artists and obviously felt free to rearrange compositional elements. Only a few of the drawings in the sketchbook can be linked to oils by Sully. Rather, they record his ideas and concepts--paths not always taken--executed to satisfy the artist’s ambition and to challenge his talent and intellect.
This image represents one of 166 pages in this sketchbook.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Sketchbook of Figure Studies
Artist: Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Date: 1810–20
Culture: American
Medium: Cardboard (cover)
Drawings in ink, wash, and graphite on light brown laid paper with fibers of mixed composition (sheets)
Dimensions: Cover: 9 x 11 1/2 in. (22.9 x 29.2 cm)
Sheets: 8 13/16 x 11 1/2 in. (22.4 x 29.2 cm)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1953
Object Number: 53.182
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

By Thomas Sully

From the same time and place

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Hints to Young Painters, and the Process of Portrait-Painting as Practiced by the Late Thomas Sully.

Thomas Sully

J. M. Stoddard & Company

1873

Portrait of a Lady, Thomas Sully American, Watercolor on ivory, American — Portrait of a Lady
Thomas Sully
ca. 1843

Mrs. Thomas Sully (Sarah Annis), Thomas Sully American, Watercolor on ivory, American — Mrs. Thomas Sully (Sarah Annis)
Thomas Sully
ca. 1802

Standing Draped Female Figure; Portrait of a Cleric; Half-length Portrait of a Man; Figures with Wagons and Horses (Napoleon Scene?) (from Sketchbook), Thomas Sully American, Ink, wash, on paper, American — Standing Draped Female Figure; Portrait of a Cleric; Half-length Portrait of a Man; Figures with Wagons and Horses (Napoleon Scene?) (from Sketchbook)
Thomas Sully
1810–20

Composition with Five Figures in Natural Setting, Two Male, Three Female, with a Lyre (Ponnassus?) (from Sketchbook), Thomas Sully American, Ink, wash, on paper, American — Composition with Five Figures in Natural Setting, Two Male, Three Female, with a Lyre (Ponnassus?) (from Sketchbook)
Thomas Sully
1810–20

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