John Smibert (rarely spelled Smybert; ; 24 March 1688 – 2 April 1751) was a Scottish-born painter, regarded as the first academically trained artist to live and work regularly in
British America
British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...
.
Career
Born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
on 24 March 1688, Smibert was the second youngest of six children of Alison and John Smibert, a litster, or wool dyer. From 1702–1709, he was apprenticed to a house painter and plasterer in Edinburgh. On moving to London in 1709
[Richard H. Saunders, John Smibert: Colonial America's first portrait painter, ]Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous.
, Yale Universi ...
, 1995. he worked as a
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
painter and copyist.
1713-1716, he studied under
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...
at the
Great Queen Street Academy, then returned to Edinburgh, seeking work as portraitist.
Smibert travelled to Italy from 1719 to 1722 to copy old masters and then settled in London where he worked as a portrait painter from 1722-1728.
Smibert became a member of the
Rose and Crown Club
The Rose and Crown Club was a club for artists, collectors and connoisseurs of art in early 18th-century London, England.
History
The Rose and Crown Club "for Eminent Artificers of this Nation" was formed by 1704, when the engraver George Vertue ...
and made a sketch for a group portrait of its members, including
George Vertue
George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period.
Life
Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...
,
John Wootton
John Wootton (c.1686– 13 November 1764)Deuchar, S. (2003). "Wootton, John". Grove Art Online. was an English painter of sporting subjects, battle scenes and landscapes, and illustrator.
Life
Born in Snitterfield, Warwickshire (near Stratfo ...
,
Thomas Gibson
Thomas Ellis Gibson (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his television roles as Daniel Nyland on ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1997), Greg Montgomery on ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002) and Aaron Hotchner on ''C ...
,
Bernard Lens III, and others.
Among his London portraits is one of
Bishop Berkeley
George Berkeley (; 12 March 168514 January 1753) – known as Bishop Berkeley (Bishop of Cloyne of the Anglican Church of Ireland) – was an Anglo-Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immateri ...
who, in 1728, enticed Smibert to accompanied him to America, with the intention of becoming professor of fine arts in the college which Berkeley was planning to found in
Bermuda
)
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. The college, however, was never established, and Smibert settled in Boston, where he married in 1730. He lived at the corner of
Brattle Street and
Queen-Street.
[David Kruh. Always something doing: Boston's infamous Scollay Square, rev. ed. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press, 1999; p.34.] He belonged to the
Scots Charitable Society of Boston The Scots Charitable Society (est.1657) of Boston, Massachusetts, was established to provide relief for local, "needy Scot people, after proper investigation." It "enjoys the distinction of being the oldest Scots society in America." It "became the ...
.
In 1728 he began painting "Dean George Berkeley and His Family," also called "The Bermuda group", now in the
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
,
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, a group of eight figures; it is maintained that the person farthest to the left is actually the artist himself. He painted portraits of
Jonathan Edwards and Judge
Edmund Quincy (in the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston), Mrs Smibert,
Peter Faneuil
Peter Faneuil (June 20, 1700March 3, 1743) was a wealthy American colonial merchant, slave trader and philanthropist who donated Faneuil Hall to Boston.
Childhood
The eldest child of one of three Huguenot brothers who fled France with considera ...
and
Governor John Endecott (in the Massachusetts Historical Society), John Lovell (Memorial Hall,
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
), and probably one of
Sir William Pepperrell; and examples of his works are owned by Harvard and Yale Universities, by
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
, by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and by the New England Historical and Genealogical Society.
In 1734, Smibert opened a shop where he sold paint, other artist's supplies, and prints. In his studio above the shop, he displayed casts and copies of
that he had painted in Europe. This collection, which Richard Saunders has termed "America's first art gallery", provided much of the early artistic education for
Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...
,
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter from Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washi ...
, and
John Trumbull
John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...
.
[''John Smibert'', ]Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press online gateway into art research, which was launched in 2008. It provides access to several online art reference works, including Grove Art Online (originally published in 1996 in a print version, ''T ...
Between 1740 and 1742, he served as architect for the original
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...
, which he designed in the style of an English country market. The hall burned down in 1761 but was restored, and then in 1806 greatly expanded and modified by
Charles Bulfinch
Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...
.
His son
Nathaniel
, nickname =
{{Plainlist,
* Nat
* Nate
, footnotes =
Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael.
People with the name Nathaniel
* Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player
* Nate A ...
was also a painter. Smibert lies in an unmarked grave in the
Granary Burying Ground
The Granary Burying Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, the ...
in Boston.
Selected works
Image:EdwardNightengale ca1723 byJohnSmibert DallasMuseumArt.jpg, Portrait of Edward Nightengale, ca.1722-1724
File:John Smibert - Benjamin Moreland, High Master of St. Paul's School - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Benjamin Morland'', oil on canvas, 1724. Yale Center for British Art
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...
File:1729 ElizabethDavenport byJohnSmibert MFABoston.jpeg, ''Elizabeth Davenport (Mrs. William Dudley'', 1729, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
.
File:Colonel James Otaway John Smibert 1724.jpeg, ''Colonel James Otaway'', oil on canvas, 1724. Royal Sussex Regiment Museum
Image:WLA lacma Smibert Scotland portrait of Paul Mascarene.jpg, Portrait of Major General Paul Mascarene
Jean-Paul Mascarene (c. 1684 – 22 January 1760) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as commander of the 40th Regiment of Foot and governor of Nova Scotia from 1740 to 1749. During this period, he led the colony th ...
, 1729 (LACMA)
File:SamuelSewall.jpg, ''Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall (; March 28, 1652 – January 1, 1730) was a judge, businessman, and printer in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay ''The Selling ...
'', 1729, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
.
File:Edward Winslow by John Smibert.jpeg, ''Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow (18 October 15958 May 1655) was a Separatist and New England political leader who traveled on the ''Mayflower'' in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both Edward Winslow and ...
'', c. 1730-1731, Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
.
File:Francis Brinley MET DT53.jpg, '' Francis Brinley'', c. 1729, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
.
Image:SmybertJohnPortraitOfEdmundQuincy.jpg, Portrait of Edmund Quincy, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
.
File:Thomas Hancock portrait.jpg, 1730 portrait of Thomas Hancock in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Image:Malachy Salter.jpg, Malachy Salter
Malachy Salter (February 28, 1715 – January 13, 1781), a Nova Scotian merchant and office-holder, who was convicted of sedition for betraying the Loyalists during the American Revolution.
Business career
He operated a successful Boston di ...
, Province House (Nova Scotia)
Province House ( gd, Taigh na Roinne) in Halifax is where the Nova Scotia legislative assembly, known officially as the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, has met every year since 1819, making it the longest serving legislative building in Canada. T ...
File:Colonel Paul Dudley Sargent. 1745-1827 (1920) (14597859800).jpg, Catherine Winthrop Sargent, married 1744 as the second wife of Col. Epes Sargent (soldier)
Epes Sargent (July 12, 1690 – December 6, 1762) was an American soldier and landowner from Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Early life and family
Sargent was born on July 12, 1690 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was the seventh of fifteen children ...
, from a portrait by Smybert which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
.
References
Further reading
;Primary sources
*
*
;General studies
*
*
;Additional notes
*
*
*
*
;Reference works
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
John Singleton Copley in America'' a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on John Smibert (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smibert, John
1688 births
1751 deaths
18th-century American painters
18th-century American male artists
American male painters
18th-century Scottish painters
Scottish male painters
Artists from Boston
People from colonial Boston
Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
Artists from Edinburgh
Burials at Granary Burying Ground
Scottish portrait painters
American portrait painters