John Singleton Copley

John Singleton Copley (1738–1815) was the leading portrait painter of colonial New England before becoming a celebrated figure in London society painting. Born in Boston to Anglo-Irish parents, he was largely self-taught, absorbing techniques from prints and from his engraver stepfather Peter Pelham. By his twenties he was Boston's most sought-after portraitist, prized for his crisp rendering of fabric, flesh, and expression, and he pioneered pastel portraiture in America.