Thomas Sully

Not to be confused with the New Orleans architect named after him whose work includesPoplar Grove Plantation (Louisiana)

Thomas Sully
Sully in 1869
Born	June 19, 1783(1783-06-19) Horncastle, Lincolnshire,UK
Died	November 5, 1872(1872-11-05)(aged 89) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,US
Occupation	Painter
Spouse	Sarah (Annis) Sully (m. 1805)
Children	9, including Brevet BGAlfred Sully(May 22, 1820 – April 27, 1879); Mary Chester Sully (marriedJohn Neagle); Jane Cooper Sully; Blanche Sully;Rosalie Sully(June 3, 1818 – July 8, 1847), (in a relationship withCharlotte Cushman(1843-1844)); Thomas Wilcocks Sully
Parents	Matthew Sully (father) Sarah Chester (mother)
Signature

Thomas Sully(June 19, 1783 – November 5, 1872) was an American portrait painter. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.He painted in the style ofThomas Lawrence.His subjects included national political leaders such as United States presidents:Thomas Jefferson,John Quincy Adams,andAndrew Jackson,Revolutionary War hero GeneralMarquis de Lafayette,and many leading musicians and composers. In addition to portraits of wealthy patrons, he painted landscapes and historical pieces such as the 1819The Passage of the Delaware.His work was adapted for use on United States coinage.

Life and career

Early life

Sully was born inHorncastle, Lincolnshire,England in 1783 to actors Matthew Sully and Sarah Chester.In March 1792, the Sullys and their nine children emigrated toCharleston, South Carolina,where Thomas's uncleThomas Wade Westmanaged a theater. Sully made his first appearance in the theater as a tumbler at the age of 11 in Charleston.After a brief apprenticeship to an insurance broker, who recognized his artistic talent, at about age 12 Sully began painting. He studied with his brother-in-law Jean Belzons (active 1794–1812), a French miniaturist, until they had a falling-out in 1799. Between 1801 and 1802, Sully lived inNorfolk, Virginia,the city from which his auntMargaretta Sully Westran her theater and opera company.

Career as a painter

The Passage of the Delaware,1819,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Plaque on theformer home of Thomas SullyinSociety Hill

Sully became a professional painter at age 18 in 1801, while living in Norfolk, Virginia, with his brother Lawrence.By 1802, he and elder brother Lawrence Sully (1769–1804) changed their base to Richmond, Virginia, where they continued to work together. In 1805, Thomas Sully married his brother's widow, Sarah (Annis) Sully. He took on the rearing of Lawrence's children.

Sully moved toNew Yorkin 1806. The next year, he studied portrait painting underGilbert StuartinBostonfor three weeks. By 1808, he had settled inPhiladelphia,where he resided for the remainder of his life. In 1809 Sully traveled toLondonfor nine months of study under the AmericanBenjamin West,who had established his painting career in Great Britain.

Sully's 1824 portraits ofJohn Quincy Adams,who became President within the year, and the generalMarquis de Lafayette,appear to have brought him widespread recognition. His Adams portrait is held in theNational Gallery of Art,Washington. Many notable Americans of the day had their portraits painted by him. In 1837–1838, he was in London to paintQueen Victoriaat the request of Philadelphia's St. George's Society. His daughter Blanche assisted him as the Queen's "stand-in," modeling the Queen's costume when she was not available. One of Sully's portraits ofThomas Jeffersonis owned by theJefferson Literary and Debating Societyat theUniversity of Virginiaand hangs in that school's rotunda. Another Jefferson portrait, this one head-to-toe, hangs atWest Point,as does his portrait of GeneralAlexander Macomb.

Mrs.Robert Gilmor,Jr. (Sarah Reeve Ladson), 1823, Oil on canvas

In Philadelphia Sully taught portrait painting toMarcus Aurelius Root,who later became an internationally successful daguerreotypist.

Sully's records say that he produced 2,631 paintings from 1801, most of which are currently in the United States.His style resembles that ofThomas Lawrence.(cf. Rilla Evelyn Jackman "AMERICAN ARTS" 1928 pg. 61)Though best known as a portrait painter, Sully also made historical pieces and landscapes. An example of the former is the 1819The Passage of the Delaware,now in theMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Personal life

Thomas and Sarah Sully had nine children together. Among the children wereAlfred Sully,Mary Chester Sully (who married Sully's protégé, the painterJohn Neagle), Jane Cooper Sully (who married a Mr. Darley), Blanche Sully,Rosalie Sully,and Thomas Wilcocks Sully.

Professional Connections and Honors

Sully was one of the founding members ofThe Musical Fund Societyin Philadelphia.He painted the portraits of many of the musicians and composers who were also members. In 1835, Sully was elected a member of theAmerican Philosophical Society.

Death and legacy

Grave marker for Thomas Sully and his wife Sarah

Sully died in Philadelphia on November 5, 1872, and was interred inLaurel Hill Cemetery.

His bookHints to Young Painterswas published posthumously.

His paintings are held and displayed permanently in many of the world's leading art museums. Two of Sully's portraits hang in the chambers of the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies of theUniversity of North Carolina.Portraits, including that of PresidentJames K. Polk,were commissioned of notable alumni from the Societies. The obverse design of theUnited States Seated Liberty coinage,which began with theGobrecht dollarin 1836 and lasted until 1891, was based on his work. The Sully paintingPortrait of Anna and Harriet Colemanwas sold at auction in 2013 for $145,000.

His son,Alfred Sully,served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during theAmerican Civil War.Through Alfred, Thomas Sully is the great-grandfather ofElla Deloria,the notedYankton Dakotaethnologistand writer; the great-grandfather of artistMary Sully(also known as Susan Mabel Deloria, 1896–1963);and the great-great-grandfather ofVine Deloria, Jr.,Standing Rock Dakotascholar and author ofCuster Died For Your Sins(1969), an American Indian civil-rights manifesto.

Sully was a great-uncle ofThomas Sully(1855–1939), the New Orleans-based architect who was named for him.

Charles Henry Lanneau of South Carolina was his student; he became a portrait painter and Civil War artist.

TheWorld War IILiberty ShipSSThomas Sullywas named in his honor.

Gallery of works

• 
  Portrait of the Artist Painting His Wife,c. 1810,oil on canvas,Yale University Art Gallery
• 
  Lady with a Harp,1818, a portrait ofEliza Ridgely,was atHampton Mansionfrom the 1820s to 1945, when it was sold to theNational Gallery of Art.
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  Portrait of the Artist,1821,Metropolitan Museum of Art
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  Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, 1821,West Point
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  Portrait of the Misses Mary and Emily McEuen,1823,Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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  Portrait of Elizabeth McEuen Smith,1823, oil on canvas,Honolulu Museum of Art
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  Portrait ofAndrew Jackson,1824, used for theUnited States twenty-dollar billfrom 1928 onward
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  A Life Study of theMarquis de Lafayette,c. 1824–1825, oil on canvas
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  Portrait of Mary Ann Heide Norris,1830,Philadelphia Museum of Art
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  Sheet of figure studies, 1830–1839,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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  Jared Sparks,1831, oil on canvas,Reynolda House Museum of American Art
• 
  Miss Walton of Florida,1833, oil on canvas, a portrait ofOctavia Walton Le Vert
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  Portrait ofFanny Kemble,1834
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  PortiaandShylock,1835
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  Gypsy Maidens,1839, watercolor,Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Macbethin the witches' cave,1840,Folger Shakespeare Library
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  Mother and Son,1840, oil on canvas,Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York
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  Charlotte Cushman,1843, Folger Shakespeare Library
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  Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire,1843,Dallas Museum of Art
• 
  Engraving of Sully's portrait of Eliza, daughter ofJoshua Batesof Boston (US), and wife to the Belgian statesman Sylvain van de Weyer
• 
  Elizabeth/Elise Wadsworth, wife ofSir Charles Murray
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  The Student,of Sully's daughter Rosalie, 1848
• 
  Portrait ofShakespeare,1864, Folger Shakespeare Library
• 
  Portrait ofRev. John Andrews D.D.Provost ofUniversity of Pennsylvania
• 
  Portrait ofBenjamin Ogle TayloeAmericanbusinessman,bon vivant,diplomat,and influential political activist inWashington, D.C.,during the first half of the 19th century. Son ofJohn Tayloe III
• 
  John Tayloe III,reproduction by Thomas Sully from the original byGilbert Stuart
• 
  Portrait of Miss Marie Louise Parker
• 
  Rosalie Spang,1848

Further reading

• Murray, P. & L. (1996).Dictionary of Art and Artists.Penguin Books.ISBN0-14-051300-0.
• Carrie Rebora Barratt,Queen Victoria and Thomas Sully.Exhibition catalogue. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000.

External links

• The Winterthur LibraryOverview of the archival collection on Thomas Sully.
• "Washington's Crossing as Docudrama",Wall Street Journal,Retrieved 03/19/2001
• "Thomas Sully (1783–1872) and Queen Victoria". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York:The Metropolitan Museum of Art