GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Mr. and Mrs. Woodbury Langdon commissioned Copley to paint their likenesses, knowing he would capture their youthful good looks. The portraits served as centerpieces of the Langdons' newly decorated and extravagant home. In these portraits, Copley conveyed the increasingly self-confident image of the colonists.
Sarah Sherbourne Langdon appears as a woman of charm and elegance, suggesting warmth, vulnerability, and a youthful naivete. Her uncorseted white satin gown and green robe complement her husband's attire. To 18th-century viewers, her bouquet of flowers symbolized the cultivation that was basic to her discipline, handiwork, and character. The romantic garden setting was invented by the artist to imitate the background found in fashionable English portraiture.
Adapted from
Gail Davitt, DMA Exhibition label text, 1997.
NOTES
Sarah Sherburne Langdon [ 3342254 ]
Created in 1767
Related object: 1996.70.1.McD John Singleton Copley Woodbury Langdon
Full Citation for General Description:
Gail Davitt, DMA Exhibition Label Copy (1993.75) for Faces of a New Nation: Colonial American Portraits (October 19, 1997- January 10, 1998), September 1997. [Fax to Eleanor Jones Harvey with these label drafts found in educaiton files, and as an undated "American Portraits" research document, Education files.]
------------
"Woodbury Langdon, a rich merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, married Sarah Sherburne in 1765 and two years later commissioned
these portraits from John Singleton Copley. By then the most fashionable artist in the colonies, Copley had a masterful touch with the rendering of textures. Although he was largely self-taught, under his brush oil paint became hair, flesh, and fabric, as is readily apparent in this pair of portraits. Copley left Boston on the eve of the American Revolution (his father-in-law was the merchant whose shipments were destroyed during the Boston Tea Party). After travel in Italy, he settled in London, where, with encouragement from expatriate artist Benjamin West, he attained an international reputation. In the new United States, the Langdons prospered; Sarah bore ten children and Woodbury obtained high political and judicial offices."
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 172.
--------------------
When newly rich New Hampshire merchant Woodbury Langdon wanted to commission portraits of himself and his eighteen-year-old wife, Sarah, two years after their marriage, there was no question of any other artist in Boston-indeed, in the colonies-for the job. In a little more than a decade, John Singleton Copley had parlayed a partial artistic education and his own teenage courage and ambition into a dazzlingly successful style. What clients like the Langdons responded to-and what viewers today can still appreciate-was Copley's miraculous way with the rendering of textures. Under his brush, oil paint became hair, flesh, and fabric, which is readily apparent in this pair of portraits. Copley also liberally borrowed costumes and poses from mezzotint engravings, allowing his clients to emulate the fashionable attire and self-presentation of the motherland.
Copley's self-assurance with materials and close attention to detail, however, contrast vividly with his awkwardness with spatial relationships, seen in particular in the proportions of Woodbury Langdon's right arm or in the difference in scale between Sarah Langdon's head and shoulders. Such difficulties were due to Copley's lack of formal training. While he deplored this as a condition of being in a provincial environment, generations of art historians-and viewers-have found this to be part of the artist's charm.
Copley left Boston on the eve of the Revolution (his father-in-law was the merchant whose shipments were destroyed during the Boston Tea Party). After travel in Italy, he settled in London with his family, where, with encouragement from expatriate artist Benjamin West, his style became ever more refined. At home, the Langdons prospered, eventually having ten children and obtaining high political and judicial offices.
Wiliam Keyse Rudolph
The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art
May 2006
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Copley, John Singleton (American, 1738-1815)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1996: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund [1]
[1] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museum. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 264294489 Learn about John Singleton Copley
UMO: 44997745 (This is the same as the above, so didn't tag)
UMO: 12936902 (Cannot get this video to work, so did not tag it)
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- JohnSingletonCopley.org~Learn more about John Singleton Copley and view his complete works.
- Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History~Read a biography of John Singleton Copley from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- The Revolutionary Art of John Singleton Copley~Watch this video from the Chicago Humanities Festival where Harvard professor Jane Kamensky discusses John Singleton Copley's life and works.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1996.70.2.McD
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General Description
Mr. and Mrs. Woodbury Langdon commissioned Copley to paint their likenesses, knowing he would capture their youthful good looks. The portraits served as centerpieces of the Langdons' newly decorated and extravagant home. In these portraits, Copley conveyed the increasingly self-confident image of the colonists.
Sarah Sherbourne Langdon appears as a woman of charm and elegance, suggesting warmth, vulnerability, and a youthful naivete. Her uncorseted white satin gown and green robe complement her husband's attire. To 18th-century viewers, her bouquet of flowers symbolized the cultivation that was basic to her discipline, handiwork, and character. The romantic garden setting was invented by the artist to imitate the background found in fashionable English portraiture.
Adapted from
Gail Davitt, DMA Exhibition label text, 1997.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- JohnSingletonCopley.org~Learn more about John Singleton Copley and view his complete works.
- Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History~Read a biography of John Singleton Copley from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- The Revolutionary Art of John Singleton Copley~Watch this video from the Chicago Humanities Festival where Harvard professor Jane Kamensky discusses John Singleton Copley's life and works.
Notes
Sarah Sherburne Langdon [ 3342254 ]
Created in 1767
Related object: 1996.70.1.McD John Singleton Copley Woodbury Langdon
Full Citation for General Description:
Gail Davitt, DMA Exhibition Label Copy (1993.75) for Faces of a New Nation: Colonial American Portraits (October 19, 1997- January 10, 1998), September 1997. [Fax to Eleanor Jones Harvey with these label drafts found in educaiton files, and as an undated "American Portraits" research document, Education files.]
------------
"Woodbury Langdon, a rich merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, married Sarah Sherburne in 1765 and two years later commissioned
these portraits from John Singleton Copley. By then the most fashionable artist in the colonies, Copley had a masterful touch with the rendering of textures. Although he was largely self-taught, under his brush oil paint became hair, flesh, and fabric, as is readily apparent in this pair of portraits. Copley left Boston on the eve of the American Revolution (his father-in-law was the merchant whose shipments were destroyed during the Boston Tea Party). After travel in Italy, he settled in London, where, with encouragement from expatriate artist Benjamin West, he attained an international reputation. In the new United States, the Langdons prospered; Sarah bore ten children and Woodbury obtained high political and judicial offices."
Bonnie Pitman, ed., Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 172.
--------------------
When newly rich New Hampshire merchant Woodbury Langdon wanted to commission portraits of himself and his eighteen-year-old wife, Sarah, two years after their marriage, there was no question of any other artist in Boston-indeed, in the colonies-for the job. In a little more than a decade, John Singleton Copley had parlayed a partial artistic education and his own teenage courage and ambition into a dazzlingly successful style. What clients like the Langdons responded to-and what viewers today can still appreciate-was Copley's miraculous way with the rendering of textures. Under his brush, oil paint became hair, flesh, and fabric, which is readily apparent in this pair of portraits. Copley also liberally borrowed costumes and poses from mezzotint engravings, allowing his clients to emulate the fashionable attire and self-presentation of the motherland.
Copley's self-assurance with materials and close attention to detail, however, contrast vividly with his awkwardness with spatial relationships, seen in particular in the proportions of Woodbury Langdon's right arm or in the difference in scale between Sarah Langdon's head and shoulders. Such difficulties were due to Copley's lack of formal training. While he deplored this as a condition of being in a provincial environment, generations of art historians-and viewers-have found this to be part of the artist's charm.
Copley left Boston on the eve of the Revolution (his father-in-law was the merchant whose shipments were destroyed during the Boston Tea Party). After travel in Italy, he settled in London with his family, where, with encouragement from expatriate artist Benjamin West, his style became ever more refined. At home, the Langdons prospered, eventually having ten children and obtaining high political and judicial offices.
Wiliam Keyse Rudolph
The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art
May 2006
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Copley, John Singleton (American, 1738-1815)
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1996: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund [1]
[1] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museum. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 264294489 Learn about John Singleton Copley
UMO: 44997745 (This is the same as the above, so didn't tag)
UMO: 12936902 (Cannot get this video to work, so did not tag it)
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
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1996.70.2.McD
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object_notes_1_a-0085.xml.nores