Gallery 21

Robert Shewell Jr. was a young Philadelphia shipmaster. His sister, Elizabeth, was the wife of leading American expatriate artist Benjamin West. Benbridge had lived with the West family in London, and his portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Shewell are painted with the warmth of family and kinship. The sitter’s fashionable outfit indicates that the portrait was painted in the early 1770s, immediately after the artist’s return from London.

Robert Shewell Jr. was a young Philadelphia shipmaster. His sister, Elizabeth, was the wife of leading American expatriate artist Benjamin West. Benbridge had lived with the West family in London, and his portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Shewell are painted with the warmth of family and kinship. The sitter’s fashionable outfit indicates that the portrait was painted in the early 1770s, immediately after the artist’s return from London.

Mary Boyer was the wife of Robert Shewell Jr., a young Philadelphia shipmaster. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, was the wife of leading American expatriate artist Benjamin West. Benbridge had lived with the West family in London, and his portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Shewell are painted with the warmth of family and kinship. The sitter’s fashionable outfit indicates that the portrait was painted in the early 1770s, immediately after the artist’s return from London.

Mary Boyer was the wife of Robert Shewell Jr., a young Philadelphia shipmaster. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, was the wife of leading American expatriate artist Benjamin West. Benbridge had lived with the West family in London, and his portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Shewell are painted with the warmth of family and kinship. The sitter’s fashionable outfit indicates that the portrait was painted in the early 1770s, immediately after the artist’s return from London.

In her portrait by Feke, Mrs. Apthorp wears a dress with the sheen and rich color of copper. The view to her left reveals a lawn, a tree, and an expanse of sky, which provides a contrast to the tumble of blue drapery behind her. Feke worked to situate his sitter convincingly in the imaginary setting, and this idealized, decorative portrait was not an intimate glimpse of her personality or her life, but a symbol of her status in society.

In her portrait by Feke, Mrs. Apthorp wears a dress with the sheen and rich color of copper. The view to her left reveals a lawn, a tree, and an expanse of sky, which provides a contrast to the tumble of blue drapery behind her. Feke worked to situate his sitter convincingly in the imaginary setting, and this idealized, decorative portrait was not an intimate glimpse of her personality or her life, but a symbol of her status in society.

John Coats Browne was the son of a Philadelphia ironmonger who betrayed his pacifist Quaker upbringing to bear arms in the American Revolution. In this portrait he is about 10 years old, standing nearly life-size, his soft, wistful gaze off-setting the confidence of his stance. His pose was based on Thomas Gainsborough’s 1779 portrait of Jonathan Buttall, better known as Blue Boy. By using Gainsborough’s model, Wright depicted Browne with the sophistication and grandeur of European portraiture.

John Coats Browne was the son of a Philadelphia ironmonger who betrayed his pacifist Quaker upbringing to bear arms in the American Revolution. In this portrait he is about 10 years old, standing nearly life-size, his soft, wistful gaze off-setting the confidence of his stance. His pose was based on Thomas Gainsborough’s 1779 portrait of Jonathan Buttall, better known as Blue Boy. By using Gainsborough’s model, Wright depicted Browne with the sophistication and grandeur of European portraiture.

Mary Turner Sargent stands in front of a masonry wall next to a fountain, a sliver of sky visible above her head. With her left hand she delicately gathers the skirt of her dress, perhaps to keep it away from the splashing fountain. With her right hand she holds a scallop shell under the water. The shell was a conventional attribute of Venus, goddess of love and beauty, while water was symbolic of purity and fertility.

Mary Turner Sargent stands in front of a masonry wall next to a fountain, a sliver of sky visible above her head. With her left hand she delicately gathers the skirt of her dress, perhaps to keep it away from the splashing fountain. With her right hand she holds a scallop shell under the water. The shell was a conventional attribute of Venus, goddess of love and beauty, while water was symbolic of purity and fertility.