Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress

By the early 1760s, when John Singleton Copley painted Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, his portraiture had reached its first maturity. Copley continued to model his poses, backgrounds, and costumes on the fashionable English portraits he knew intimately from reproductive engravings. His elegant portraits from this period reflect contemporary rococo style, with its playful juxtaposition of curvilinear forms. But Copley infused his superficially conventional likenesses with a degree of naturalism and individuality unprecedented in colonial portrait-painting, and he had mastered the tactile illusion of varied surface materials, from shimmering satins to gleaming mahogany to living flesh. In Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, the almost regal composure of the sitter—who with her clear-eyed gaze coolly avoids acknowledging the viewer—contrasts with the lively interplay of highlights on the glossy fabric of her dress and the punctuating details of the lace and bows that adorn her.

Both the material richness of the sitter’s stylish dress and her air of languorous if well-bred ease advertise the wealth and social standing of her family. The identity of the sitter in Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, which descended in the family of the artist, has never been known. Scholars have suggested that she is Margaret Sanford (Mrs. Thomas Hutchinson Sr.) or her daughter-in-law Sarah Oliver (Mrs. Thomas Hutchinson Jr.). But she also bears a close resemblance to Deborah Scollay, the subject of a miniature painting Copley made around 1762. In several instances Copley painted miniature portraits in conjunction with full-size likenesses. Moreover, in 1763, the year Copley painted Lady in a Blue Dress, he also executed portraits of Deborah’s parents. The artist had close professional ties to both the Hutchinsons and the Scollays, but while his documented connection with the former family ceased in 1761, Scollay relations were commissioning portraits from him as late as 1774, the year he closed his Boston studio and departed for Europe.

John Singleton Copley 1738–1815, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Pastels, Miniatures and Drawings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, February 1–March 15, 1938, no. 87.

Vignettes of the 18th Century in America, Milwaukee Art Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 30–July 31, 1960. [exh. cat.]

A Kennedy Galleries Selection of American Art for Public and Private Collectors, Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Kennedy Galleries, New York, New York, April 14–May 29, 1981. [exh. cat.]

Woman, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, February 21–April 22, 1984. [exh. cat.]

Masterworks in American Art from the Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois, April 27–September 12, 1985.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 1988.

Face to Face: Portraits from the Collections of Terra Museum of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, October 8, 1994–April 2, 1995.

Selected Works from the Collections: Two Hundred Years of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–August 27, 1997.

Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois,  May 9–July 9, 2000.

New Faces, New Places: Recent Additions to the Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 14–December 31, 2000.

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Copley to Cassatt: Masterworks from the Terra Collection, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, and Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, September 5–December 7, 2003.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004.

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation,Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9–April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30–June 30, 2007 (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008. [exh. cat.]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, March 2012–October 2012.

Art Across America, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: National Museum of Korea, Seoul, February 4– May 12, 2013; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea,  June 7–September 1, 2013. [exh. cat.]

America: Painting a Nation,  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (organizers). Venue: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, November 9, 2013–February 8, 2014. [exh. cat]

Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, January 2015–March 2019.

 Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, September 2020–April 2022.

Terra Collection-in-Residence, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Georgia, June 1, 2022–June 30, 2026.

 

Bayley, Frank W. Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, Massachusetts: Garden Press, 1910. P. 56.

Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley: Founded on the Work of Augustus Thorndike Perkins. Boston, Massachusetts: The Taylor Press, 1915. P. 154.

Park, B. N. and A. B. Wheeler. John Singleton Copley, American Portraits in Oil, Pastel and Miniature with Biographical Sketches. Boston, Massachusetts: Museum of Fine Arts, 1938. Text pp. 193–94; pl. 29.

Hipkiss, E. J. M. and M. Karolik Collection of Eighteenth-Century American Arts. Boston, Massachusetts, 1941. Ill. no. 8, p. 17.

Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley in America, 1738–1774. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1966. Fig. 118 (black & white).

American Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Vol. 1–2. Boston, Massachusetts, 1969. Vol. 1, text no. 256, p. 60; Vol. 2, fig. 39.

Adams, Henry. "Private Collector to Public Champion." Portfolio Magazine 5:1 (January/February 1983): 48–53. Ill. p. 52 (color).

Nochlin, Linda. Woman. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Evanston, Illinois: Terra Museum of American Art, 1984. No. 2, p. 12 (color).

Sokol, David M. "The Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois." The Magazine Antiques 126:5 (November 1984): 1156–69. Pl. I, p. 1156 (color).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-2, p. 111 (color).

Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress, John Singleton Copley. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 1988. Ill. (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 42; ill. p. 42 (black & white).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text p. 42; ill. p. 42 (black & white).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. (exh. cat., National Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Museum). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Chinese and English version; citing English version). Ill. p. 67 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. (exh. cat., The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Russian version). Ill. p. 55 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in the USA: 300 años de innovación. (exh. cat., Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Spanish version). Ill. p. 57 (color).

Art Across America. (exh. cat., National Museum of Korea, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Seoul, South Korea: National Museum of Korea, 2013. (English and Korean versions). Text p. 53; ill. p. 52 (color).

America: Painting a Nation. (exh. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the National Museum of Korea, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Terra Foundation for American Art). Sydney, Australia: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2013. Text p. 50; ill. cat. no. 2, p. 51 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text p. 19; fig. 2, p. 20 (color).