Episode 106: Jane Kamensky, The World of John Singleton Copley

by Liz CovartNovember 1, 2016

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What can the life of an artist reveal about the American Revolution and how most American men and women experienced it?

Today, we explore the life and times of John Singleton Copley with Jane Kamensky, a Professor of History at Harvard University and the author of A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Episode Summary

In this episode we explore the life and times of John Singleton Copley with Jane Kamensky, a Professor of History at Harvard University and the author of A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley.

During our exploration, Jane reveals Copley’s early life and how he became a painter; information about Copley’s art and how he earned a living as a painter; And John Singleton Copley’s involvement with and views on the American Revolution.

What You’ll Discover

How Jane became interested in John Singleton Copley
How Jane uncovered Copley’s early life
Copley’s unusual life as an only child
How Copley became a painter
Gilbert Stuart
Benjamin West
John Smibert
Colonial Boston’s relationship with art
Copley’s work in Boston
How Copley engaged with the larger 18th-century British art world from Boston
The story of Copley’s Boy with a Squirrel
Copley’s personality
What Copley thought of Boston’s protests during the 1760s and 1770s
Liberty Men in 1765
How Copley reacted to the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party
Copley’s voyage to London and why he left Boston when he did
Copley’s political leanings
What Copley may have made of American independence
What Copley would think of his role as a founding father of American art

John Singleton Copley, Boy with Squirrel (Henry Pelham), 1765 — John Singleton Copley, *Boy with Squirrel* (Henry Pelham), 1765

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Jane Kamensky
Jane’s Harvard Webpage
A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley
Courtauld Institute
Karin Wulf, Not All Wives: Women of Colonial Philadelphia
Alan Taylor, The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution
Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Copley had stayed in Boston after 1774? How would he have weathered the coming War for Independence? Would he have still been able to make a living as an artist?