Thomas Sully

Thomas Sully prints bring the grace and soft glamour of early American portraiture into your home. Sully was an English-born painter who settled in Philadelphia and painted presidents, generals, actors and Queen Victoria, earning the name the "Sir Thomas Lawrence of America". Our collection of fine art prints covers his portraits of Philadelphia society, famous Americans, children and family, his literary subjects and a large set of landscape studies.

About Thomas Sully

Thomas Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, in June 1783 to the actors Matthew Sully and Sarah Chester. In 1792 the family emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina, where his uncle ran a theatre, and Thomas appeared on stage as a tumbler at 11. An insurance broker noticed his talent, and he began painting at about 12, learning from Charles Fraser and from his brother-in-law, the French miniaturist Jean Belzons.

He became a professional painter at 18, working with his brother Lawrence in Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia. After Lawrence's death he married his brother's widow, Sarah, in 1805 and raised her children; they later had nine of their own. In 1807 he studied for three weeks with Gilbert Stuart in Boston, and in 1808 he settled in Philadelphia, his home for the rest of his life. In 1809, newly an American citizen, he spent nine months in London studying with Benjamin West and came under the influence of Thomas Lawrence.

His 1824 portraits of John Quincy Adams and the Marquis de Lafayette made him famous. In 1837–38 he went to London to paint the young Queen Victoria for the St George's Society of Philadelphia, with his daughter Blanche standing in for the Queen in her robes. He produced more than 2,300 paintings in a seventy-year career and taught pupils including John Neagle. He died in Philadelphia on 5 November 1872.

Style and Subjects

Sully's portraits are soft, graceful and flattering. Like Thomas Lawrence, he used fluid brushwork, warm light and romantic poses, and his women and children have a gentle, idealised charm. Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely is a classic example, all flowing white dress and easy elegance.

He also painted historical and literary scenes, such as The Passage of the Delaware and Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire, and made many small landscape studies, some labelled with the principles of earlier masters like Cuyp and Turner. His design for the seated figure of Liberty was used on American coins for decades.

Famous Works

• Sally Etting (1808), Jewish Museum, New York. An early portrait from his first year in Philadelphia.
• Lady with a Harp: Eliza Ridgely (1818). A young woman in white leaning on her harp, one of his best-loved portraits.
• The Passage of the Delaware (1819), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Washington crossing the Delaware before the Battle of Trenton.
• John Quincy Adams (1824), National Gallery of Art, Washington. The portrait that brought him wide fame.
• Queen Victoria (1838), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The young queen in her coronation year.
• Cinderella at the Kitchen Fire (1843), Dallas Museum of Art. A gentle literary subject from the fairy tale.
• Andrew Jackson. A portrait of the seventh President.

Decorating with Sully Prints

Sully's portraits suit traditional rooms: a formal living room, dining room or entrance hall with classic furniture and warm wood. Lady with a Harp makes an elegant focal point in a music room or sitting room.

His portraits of children, like Child Asleep (The Rosebud), are sweet choices for a nursery or bedroom, and his small landscape studies make a quiet, unusual gallery wall in a study or hallway.

FAQ

Why is Thomas Sully called the "American Lawrence"?

He studied in London in 1809–10 and was so strongly influenced by the British portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence that he became known as the "Sir Thomas Lawrence of America".

Did Thomas Sully paint Queen Victoria?

Yes. He travelled to London in 1837–38 to paint her for the St George's Society of Philadelphia. A version is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Who did Thomas Sully paint?

He painted presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Queen Victoria and many Philadelphia families, actors and musicians.

Where can I see Thomas Sully's paintings?

His work is in the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and many other American museums.

Related Artists

• Benjamin West: his teacher in London in 1809–10
• Sir Thomas Lawrence: British portraitist whose style shaped his own
• Gilbert Stuart: American portraitist he studied with in Boston
• Charles Bird King: friend who studied with him under West in London
• John Neagle: his pupil and son-in-law