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Jasper Francis Cropsey
Eagle Cliff, Franconia Notch, New Hampshire
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Richard Diebenkorn
Berkeley No. 8
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William Tylee Ranney
First News of the Battle of Lexington
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Franz Kline
Orange Outline
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Christian Friedrich Mayr
Kitchen Ball at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia
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Marsden Hartley
Indian Fantasy
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Focus Works of Art
Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) (1717-1778)
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John Singleton Copley
(American, 1738 - 1815)
Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) (1717-1778),
about 1770 |
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COPLEY AND THE FACE OF COLONIAL AMERICA
One way to look at a portrait is as a conspiracy; the artist and the sitter have entered into a plot against us, the viewers. Together, they present us with a fiction, some of it perhaps true, other aspects wishful. Copley's portrait of Katherine Graves, wife of Judge James Russell of Charlestown, Massachusetts, is one example of this type of artistic conspiracy.
What do we know about this woman? Or rather what do she and the artist want us to know? We know she is affluent. Her clothing is expensive, but not ostentatious - just what one would expect of a wealthy daughter of Puritans. The book in her hand tells us the woman is educated and has the leisure time to read - an important distinction at a time when most women were illiterate and endured lives of grueling labor.
All the clues add up to a picture of a woman of property and gentility, a matriarch of a proud family. But Copley adds something more to this image. He endows this woman with a strong physical presence. His artistry - above all the play of light and shadow that sculpts the figure and pushes her forward into our space - gives life to Katherine Russell, daughter and wife of magistrates and mother of 11 children. However, beyond the likeness, which we assume to be accurate, we are told nothing personal about Mrs. Russell. For her, it is only important to be regarded as a member in good standing of the social and governing elite. And what better way to assert and affirm her privileged position than to be painted by the leading portrait painter in the American colonies?
In this painting we see something of the longings for high culture and social status of Americans on the eve of Independence. We often forget that upper-class families like the Russells in Massachusetts, or the Washingtons in Virginia, modeled their manners and aspirations after the English aristocracy. Right up to the Revolution, many colonial families thought of themselves socially and culturally, if not politically, as gentry in a far shire of England. The Revolution tore the social fabric of British North America. The Russells sided with the patriots and were rewarded with generations of prosperity. Other families were not so fortunate.
Click here to view a related video produced in association with the North Carolina School of Science and Math's Learn More - Teach More Project. (RealPlayer is required to view this video file.)
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Below are suggestions for using the Focus Work of Art with students in the classroom. The activity and discussion ideas are listed in order of difficulty. The activity instructions and italicized discussion questions may be presented directly to students. The icons below each suggestion note the related subject area(s). Click on each icon to determine which subject area it represents. Browse the thematic Lesson Plans for more ideas on how to use this work of art and theme in the classroom. |
- Dear Diary, December 1773
What do Copley's portraits tell you about the lives of Mrs. Russell, the patriot, and Mrs. Pepperrell, the Loyalist? How might their lives have been similar and different? Using your knowledge of this time period and the visual information provided in the paintings, consider how these figures would have reacted to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773. Write two diary entries that respond to this contemporary event from the point of view of each of these colonial women.
  
- The Artist's Career
Compare the opportunities artists had in the colonies versus England. Think especially about the artist's opportunities for training, patronage and materials. John Singleton Copley left Boston for England in 1774, hoping he would enjoy even greater success in Europe. From Copley's point of view, write a letter home describing his life in England and his feelings about how it would have been different had he stayed in the colonies. How might his style and subject matter have changed?
- European Appeal
Why would colonists have been interested in maintaining European traditions in their art? What is particularly European about these paintings? What is particularly American? Think of other aspects of colonial life that mimicked European conventions. Consider aspects of American life today that follow a European model (e.g., fashion, music, design, etc.). Think of one popular contemporary European product. Why do you think it appeals to Americans? Create your own advertisement that plays on the American desire for this product and its European characteristics.
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