Study for "Monmouth Before James II"

1774–1815 · Werkzaam in

London

c. 1781

Chambers rebukes Copley over the private showing of his picture

“The Death of the Earl of Chatham” made Copley’s name as a history painter, but Sir William Chambers, in an open letter, objected to its being shown privately ahead of the Royal Academy exhibition, accusing the artist of purveying it like a raree-show to sell prints or raffle the picture. Copley wrote a caustic reply one morning and threw it into the fire that evening; engravings from the picture later sold well in England and America.

5 December 1782

The Stars and Stripes in Elkanah Watson’s portrait

After listening to George III’s speech formally acknowledging American independence, Copley paints the Stars and Stripes with a bold hand on a ship in the background of Elkanah Watson’s portrait. Watson himself imagined it to be the first American flag hoisted in Old England.

1791 · Onderscheiding

Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1791 · Lidmaatschap

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1796

His son goes to Boston to contest the sale of Beacon Hill

Copley had sold his Beacon Hill estate to a syndicate of speculators headed by Dr. Benjamin Joy and, on learning that the buyers knew of a plan to build the Massachusetts State House at the top of the hill, felt himself victimized. He sends his son John, then at the start of a brilliant legal career, to Boston to annul the sale, but in vain; it is not certain he had reason to feel defrauded, since by one estimate the price was three times what he had paid himself.