Robert Matthew Sully - Junius Brutus Booth - 1923

Robert Matthew Sully (17 July 1803,

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

- 28 October 1855,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

)Biographical data
@ RootsWeb was an American portrait painter who worked mostly in Virginia. He is best remembered for his depictions of Native Americans. The famous English-born artist,

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was a portrait painter in the United States. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence. His subjects included nationa ...

, was his uncle.

Biography

He was one of six children born to Matthew Sully (1773-1812) and his wife, Elizabeth (1775-1851), who was from Scotland. He was sent to school in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, where he met and became lifelong friends with

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

. By the age of eighteen, he was determined to become a painter and went to Philadelphia to seek advice from his uncle, Thomas Sully. His uncle's advice was to study in London at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. While there, he became acquainted with

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

and produced some sketches which are now at

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 ...

. In 1828, he returned to the United States and settled in Richmond.Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia
@ Google Books. Four years later, he married Isabella Thompson (1815-1898) of

Culpeper, Virginia Culpeper (formerly Culpeper Courthouse, earlier Fairfax) is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,062 at the 2020 census, up from 16,379 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper Coun ...

. They had one son and two daughters. The marriage was apparently not a happy one as, by the mid 1840s, they were living apart. In the early 1850s, he painted a number of portraits, many of Native Americans, for the

State Historical Society of Wisconsin The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

; a project commissioned by Lyman C. Draper. In 1855, he was elected an honorary member of that society and set out for Wisconsin to pay a visit, accept the honor and perhaps settle there. He died en route, in Buffalo. His baggage and most of his personal papers were lost at the time. Due to that and other unknown circumstances, a certain Frank Short was arrested and charged with his murder, but was released when it was determined that Sully's death was from natural causes. He painted two portraits of his friend Poe, but their whereabouts are currently unknown.

References

External links

Biographical notes
@

Find-a-Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

Pocahontas as "Forest Girl"
from the ''Encyclopedia Virginia'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sully, Robert M. 1803 births 1855 deaths American portrait painters 19th-century American painters Painters from Virginia

Biography

References

Further reading

External links