Thomas Sully

(b Horncastle, Lincs, 19 June 1783; d Philadelphia, PA, 5 Nov 1872).

American painter of English birth. Sully went to America in 1792 with his family, who were theatre and circus performers. He made at least one appearance on stage as an acrobat in 1794 and was then apprenticed with an insurance broker, after which he was placed with his brother-in-law, Jean Belzons, a miniature painter. After an argument with Belzons, Sully fled and in September 1799 joined his older brother Lawrence (1769-1804), also a miniature painter, in Richmond, VA. In 1801 the Sully family moved to Norfolk, VA, where Thomas painted his first miniature, a likeness of his brother Chester. In January 1803 Lawrence and his family returned to Richmond. Thomas remained in Norfolk for another six months but in July 1803 returned to Richmond, where he opened his own studio.

By 1804 Sully was planning to go to England to study but postponed his plans due to the sudden death of his brother Lawrence. In the spring of 1806 Thomas married his sister-in-law, Sarah Annis Sully, assuming responsibility for her three children. The couple went to New York, where Sully set up a studio in the lobby of the Park Theatre. In July 1807 Sully moved his family to Hartford, CT, and then went to Boston to visit Gilbert Stuart, from whom he received helpful criticism. In December 1807 Sully moved his family to Philadelphia, where he resided for the rest of his life. By the end of 1808 he was established there as a successful and popular portrait painter.

After being made a citizen of the USA in 1809, Sully placed his family in the care of fellow painter Benjamin Trott (1770-1841) and left for England. He was in London from July 1809 until March 1810. While there he had the benefit of criticism from Benjamin West, the great champion of young American painters. At West's suggestion, Sully studied anatomy and borrowed paintings for copying from West's collection. He also drew from the collection of plaster casts of Classical sculpture in the Antique Room of the Royal Academy.

Early in his career, Sully painted two of his finest works, which did much to enhance his growing reputation. His portrait of George Frederick Cooke in the Role of Richard III (1812; Philadelphia, PA Acad. F.A.) shows the famous British actor life-size and full-length. The other noteworthy full-length painting was a portrait of Samuel Coates (1813; Philadelphia, PA Hospital), President of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Sully's likeness of General Andrew Jackson (1819; Clermont, NY, Taconic State Park) and portrait of Mrs Robert Gilmor (Sarah Reeve Ladson) (1823; Charleston, SC, Gibbes A. Mus.; see fig.) are outstanding examples of the work of this period. By 1828, following the death of Gilbert Stuart, Sully was considered by some American observers as 'the Prince of American portrait painters'.

In October 1837 Sully made a second trip to England. On the request of the Society of the Sons of Saint George of Philadelphia, Sully obtained a series of sittings from the new, and as yet uncrowned, Queen Victoria. From the study (New York, Met.) Sully painted a three-quarter length portrait of her for the publishers Hodgson & Graves (1838; London, Wallace) and on returning to Philadelphia a full-length portrait for the Society (on loan to Washington, DC, N.G.A.).

In the 1840s Sully's painting began to show signs of unevenness. He was still capable of producing handsome masterpieces, such as his portrait of Eliza Leslie (1844; Philadelphia, PA Acad. F.A.) and his superlative full-length portrait of Sarah Sully with her Dog, Ponto (1848; San Antonio, TX, A. League Col.), but many of his later portraits are lacklustre. From 1855 both Sully's health and the number of commissions for portraits declined, as did his prices. Increasingly he painted subject or fancy pictures. His portraits were frequently fuzzy copies of other artists' work or were from photographs, but occasionally he was able to paint a creditable likeness. His painting of the Liberian politician, Edward James Roye (1864; Philadelphia, PA, Hist. Soc.), although based on a photograph, is a handsome work. (Source: MONROE H. FABIAN, "Thomas Sully," The Grove Dictionary of Art Online (Oxford University Press) Accessed March 29, 2004) http://www.groveart.com