The American Artist - John Singleton Copley - Term Paper Example

American Art And Architecture The American Artist – John Singleton Copley The field of arts in the whole wide world has completely evolved and there have been so many great artists that are even remembered today for their incredible masterpieces of arts. The field of arts has always been exhibiting certain realities of the various cultures, theories, history and social, economic and psychological issues. That is the major reason behind the turnover of the appreciation which has broadened the field of arts globally. One of the best examples of new art history in America is “John Singleton Copley”. He was born on 3rd July, 1738 in Boston and died in London on 9th September 1915. He was one of the most successful artists in colonial America who was widely renowned for his portrait paintings and he was believed to be the master of great pieces of American history of arts. He was one of the finest portraitists in American history. His capacity of demonstrating the fantasies of people and objects in contrast with various combinations of light and dark enabled him to be recognized for a long time by the art historians. The parents of Copley were said to be poor and uncultured and he was the stepson of the artist Peter Pelham. By the time in 1760, although being difficult circumstances in life, Copley managed to gain the position of a supreme artist. And then in 1774, he left Boston and went to London, where he familiarize his style of painting with the British painterly approach and that was the time when he diversified his focus of the paintings from portraits to history paintings which enabled him in gaining global appreciation. Many people argue that Copley was not formerly trained under any professional artist, but this is not the reality. In the difficult times of his youth, Copley had to spend 3 years with his stepfather, Peter Pelham and there he got the chance to study and learn the drawing patterns, printmaking and the art of painting portraits. Not only his stepfather, but Copley also had witnessed the artistry works two English artists, John Smibert (1688 – 1751) and Joseph Blackburn (1752 – 1777). Copley had learned a lot from the copies of various old master paintings that were drawn by Simbert. The early work of Copley was mainly influenced by by Joseph Badger (1707/8–1765), Robert Feke (about 1708–1751), and John Greenwood (1729–1792). Not only them, but his early works also reveal that they were influenced by Simbert and Blackburn. For instance, his painting of Joseph Mann which he painted in 1754 was influenced by the early works of Feke and Greenwood. He painted a number of paintings in history before starting entirely to portraiture. In his early age of 17 years Copley painted a portrait of his stepbrother, Charles which was a true example of his strong growing skills in regard to the knowledge of colors and fabrics. With the growing age of Copley, his abilities, understanding and techniques of playing with colors also grew incredibly and he started receiving appreciation for it on a larger platform. His portraits were known to be the best in detailing out the minor features of the portrait such as the delicacy of handcuffs, or the creaminess of young girl’s neck and etc. By 1766, Copley had majorly worked for most of the well-known and significant families of New England. That was the time when Copley got married to Susanna Clarke, who was the daughter of an agent for the British East India Company, Tory Merchant. Although Copley managed to become a successful artist in terms of money and recognition both, but he was mostly recognized for some of his great masterpieces that were not specially made for the wealthy families. Some of his quite famous portraits include the portraits of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock that were finished by Copley back in 1772. Analysis of Work Watson and the Shark Few of the amazing works of Copley include his painting of “Watson and the Shark” that was actually painted in order to recreate an event that occurred in Havana, Cuba back in 1749. The event was about a fourteen year old orphan, Brook Watson. He was sent to Boston to a relative after being orphaned at the age of ten (Jeffery, 1942). He was working on Havana’s one of the trading ship company as a crew member. One day, Watson went into the sea for the purpose of swimming, all naked and there the boy was attacked by a giant shark. The painting demonstrates that scenario when the shark is going to attack the child and the colleagues of Brooke Watson were trying to save him from the fatal attack. At that time when the attempts were being made to save Watson, it became so difficult to save the boy because Watson was unable to reach the rope so what the crew members did to save him was, two of them extended their arms to reach out to Watson and the rest of the crew members were holding on to them so that they may not fall into the sea as well. With this entire struggle was taking place, one of Watson’s colleagues was standing near the edge of the shipment to attack the shark. When this painting was drawn by Copley, it was the time when the black people were not considered to be smart enough and they were taken as the foolish people of the society. On the contrary to that belief, in this painting, a black man was shown as a smart person with an outstanding role. The reason behind Copley showing a black man as smart and in a better light is maybe to represent the joining of the black race with the Britain. The painting is not only demonstrating the historic horrifying moment but with that it has deeper meanings such as from the political perspective, we can observe a clear message that, whenever any English man is suffering from bad times or from any situational crises, then all the rest of the English people do not left him alone in that of need. In fact, all the English men should get united and help their fellow men in fighting against the crises. The painting also delivers the message that Britain is very active and eager in reacting to the situation of the difficult times just like the fellow men of Brooke Watson did in the painting. In the painting, Brook Watson is shown as a shocked and surprised individual who has given up all the hopes to be saved and the boat that is being shown in the painting is quite stable one because there are so many people in it and yet it is not being affected by that fact and stands there steady and firm. The painting leads its viewers to a conclusion that Watson may have died in the event which is not the reality, in fact he was saved. Copley did this by demonstrating a closer distance between the shark and Watson. The central point that makes this punting more interesting is that any viewer of this painting would draw a conclusion that the man in the water is going to get killed, no matter what but it never happened and the unexpected ending makes this masterpiece more attractive. In his painting, the crewmen were shown as brave men as at the end of the day they managed to save Watson and their attempts were not as shabby as a viewer may perceive at a glance on that painting. And the strong message that he tried to convey that people should get united in time of needs was quite visible and commendable. After the exhibition of this painting, Copley received a favorable reception in Royal Academy 1778. This piece of Copley helped Watson in the retrieval of his good image which was promptly required because of the political attacks on the reputation of Watson (Ashton, 2009). The siege and relief of Gibraltar In the painting of “The siege and relief of Gibraltar”, Copley painted this masterpiece in June 1791 and it was put on for display the Green park of London, England. The painting had striking contrasts and combinations of colors with a right half of the painting showing the British soldiers who were clean and confident in a defensive position. The painting shows the battle of the siege of Gibraltar which is known as longest and largest battle in the revolutionary history of America. In the painting, Copley has portrayed the Governer General George Augustus Eliott. In that battle the forces of France and Spain in alliance with the forces of US had attacked the Rock of Gibraltar in 1779. On the other hand the British army had to face a lot of troubles and hardships in order to protect the rock of Gibraltar. The British army had to fight alone against the alliance of three forces. And the scene is depicted incredibly in the painting that is the right side of the painting, a British officer is seated calmly with no situation of panic and giving directions to his soldiers to fire towards the forces of the enemies. On the other hand the painting has got darker reflections from the left of the painting where Copley has shown the forces of Spain and France with darker motives and there is almost no difference in their soldiers and they just all look alike. In the scene the Spanish and French forces are suffering from the fierce reaction of British army and the soldiers of Spain and France are in a miserable condition, trying to escape from the battlefield in order to save their lives. However, it was an implausible piece from Copley that portrayed the honor and success story of Britain on the small canvas of 450 sq ft. The painting was largely recognized by the people in Britain when it was put up for the public and nearly 60,000 people visited the park to witness that piece. The painting of ‘The siege and relief of Gibraltar’ were mainly based on the expectations of the modernized viewer and their awareness of related stories of the siege (Bonehill, 2005). Copley was quite successful in hitting the sentimental perspective of the viewers which enabled him to gain the sympathetic appreciation from its audience (Bonehill, 2005). Copley was specially made to request to paint the particular event by the city of London back in 1783. Initially the painting was placed in the Guildhall’s Common Council Chamber and then it was moved to Art Gallery of Guildhall in 1886. References Gardner, A. T. (1962). A Copley Primitive. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 257-263. Jeffery, M. (1942). A Painting of Copleys English Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 148-150. Wakey Wakey. (2006). Watson and the Shark. [online] Retrieved from: http://celery.wordpress.com/2006/03/31/watson-and-the-shark/ [Accessed: 22 Mar 2014]. Barratt, C. R. (1995). John Singleton Copley in America. C. Rebora (Ed.). Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ashton, K. (2009). John Singleton Copleys. Lehigh University. Bonehill, J. (2005). Exhibiting War: John Singleton Copley’s ‘‘The Siege of Gibraltar’’and the Staging of History’ (pp. 139-67). J. Bonehill, & G. Quilley (Eds.). Aldershot and Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Read More