John Singleton CopleyAmerican, 1738–1815Dorothy Murray (1743-1811)
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Dorothy Murray (1743-1811)” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1929.321
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
In the life of John Singleton Copley
The whole life1750s
Self-education: engravings and anatomical studies
Copley is largely self-taught, copying engravings after Godfrey Kneller, Joshua Reynolds and other masters. A book of his studies of the figure, now at the British Museum, shows that before he was twenty he was making anatomical drawings with much care and precision.
1753–1774 · Workplace
Boston
October 1757
An invitation to paint portraits in Nova Scotia
Capt. Thomas Ainslie, collector of the Port of Quebec, writes from Halifax acknowledging his portrait with great satisfaction and advises Copley to visit Nova Scotia, where several people would gladly employ him. The invitation was later repeated from Quebec; Copley replied that he would be glad to accept but had a large room full of unfinished pictures that would keep him busy for twelve months.
1760s
A needy tobacconist’s son among Boston’s elite
The income Copley earned by painting in the 1760s was extraordinary for his town and time and raised the son of a needy tobacconist into the local aristocracy. The foremost personages of New England came to his painting-room as sitters.
30 September 1762
Asks Liotard for Swiss pastel crayons
Copley writes to the Swiss painter Jean-Étienne Liotard asking for a set of the best Swiss crayons for drawing portraits, in the hope that America will one day become a school of the fine arts. The pastels arrive and are put to use; Copley was a pioneer American pastellist.
