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Portrait of the Artist

Thomas Sully American
1821
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
The English-born Philadelphian Thomas Sully painted this self-portrait for his host in Baltimore, Maryland, the broker Henry Robinson. The artist is shown interrupted at his work, with the primary tool of his profession pointed at his sharply lit head. This paintbrush device is common in artists’ self-portraits, and Sully is thought to have adapted it from a similar work by Benjamin West, with whom he had studied in London. Although Sully’s brushwork is unusually restrained here, its painterly quickness blends with the engaging spontaneity of the pose to create a sense of immediacy.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait of the Artist
  • Artist: Thomas Sully (American, Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1783–1872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Date: 1821
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 17 1/8 x 14 in. (43.5 x 35.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Rosa C. Stanfield, in memory of her father, Henry Robinson, 1894
  • Object Number: 94.23.3
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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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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