Harvard's Fogg Art Museum Displays Lesser-Known Works by First Great American Artist-John Singleton Copley

Process and Paradox examines Copley's working method through drawings, oil sketches, and a full-size, unfinished canvas

CAMBRIDGE, MA (March 25, 2004)-The Fogg Art Museum has one of the nation's most distinguished collections of the work of John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Though Copley is best-known in Boston for his colonial portraits, a new exhibition opening in May will focus on history paintings from his later career in England, bringing several preparatory works together for the first time. Process and Paradox: The Historical Pictures of John Singleton Copley highlights two rarely seen works, the Boston Public Library's Charles I Demanding the Five Impeached Members of the House of Commons (1782-95) and the Fogg's Monmouth Before James II (c. 1795). The exhibition, which includes 21 significant pieces from the Harvard collection as well as the important Library loan, opens at the Fogg on May 8 and continues through August 29, 2004.

Charles I Demanding the Five Impeached Members of the House of Commons was sent to Harvard's Straus Center for Conservation to be treated and cleaned, and its presence there inspired curators and conservators to examine the Fogg's own Copley paintings from the same period. These included an oil sketch for Charles I as well as a drawing, an oil sketch, and the nearly finished canvas for Monmouth. Bringing the Library's painting together with the Fogg's pictures gave curators and conservators the opportunity to study Copley's development, from his early American portraits to the large-scale compositions of his English career. Though their studies are ongoing, their findings to date provide clues about his creative process and illuminate the paradoxes in both his chosen genre of history painting and his political loyalties.

"We are pleased that the recently formed department of American art is bringing renewed attention to the Museum's distinguished collection," said Thomas Lentz, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "We are fortunate to have constant collaboration between our curators and the talented staff at the Straus Center for Conservation, which allows for the discoveries presented in exhibitions like Process and Paradox."

Copley's large-scale British paintings often deal with recent political events or the latest military victory. However, for Charles I, Copley focused on an event that occurred more than a century earlier, in 1641 or 1642, when King Charles I accused five members of the House of Commons of treason and demanded their surrender. The House refused, considering this a breach of their rights, and the event proved to be the foundation for the civil war that led to the king's execution. Not surprisingly, Copley's choice of subject raised royal ire. At a private viewing, Queen Charlotte after a long and ominous silence, said to the artist, "You have chosen, Mr. Copley, a most unfortunate subject for the exercise of your pencil." The painting was highly esteemed however, by Americans of a later period: President John Quincy Adams and the Boston painter Washington Allston both considered it one of his finest works.

At roughly the same time as he was working on Charles I, Copley assayed another historical theme, Monmouth Before James II, for which the Fogg owns a drawing, an oil sketch, and a large, unfinished canvas. Its recent treatment at the Straus Center for Conservation involved removing heavy grime layers and discolored varnish, as well as inpainting hundreds of small losses. In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, plotted to overthrow his Catholic uncle King James II with Protestant support. He was captured and sentenced to death, but was given a final interview with James, who hoped to coerce him into naming his accomplices. Monmouth refused, and was led away to execution. Two versions of the events that were available in Copley's time related differing accounts, one in which Monmouth refused the King with nobility and courage, and one in which he groveled at James's feet. Copley chose the former, and glorified antimonarchist rebellion. Both Charles I and Monmouth heroize men who rebelled against monarchy, a surprising choice for a painter who still hoped to win favor with the public and the royal family.

"Process and Paradox follows Copley's career from Boston portraitist to London history painter, and shows the difficulties and contradictions inherent in creating these large-scale works," said Kimberly Orcutt, assistant curator of American art. "This has been a wonderful opportunity for closer study of Copley's English career, a part of his oeuvre that we in the United States don't often see, and our conservation staff has been able to learn more about how Copley created these paintings by studying the Fogg's preparatory works."

Among the important portraits to be included are two of Copley's monumental early works, Thomas Hancock (1764-66) and Thomas Hollis (1765-66), which have not been on public view in several decades, and the magnificent John Adams, painted in London in 1783.

Gallery Talks:

• Saturday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m., with Kimberly Orcutt, assistant curator; Teri Hensick, conservator; and Ige Verslype, intern, Straus Conservation Center
• Saturday, May 22, at 11:30 a.m., with Stephanie Mayer, Benjamin Rowland Research Fellow
• Sunday, June 27, at 2:00 p.m., with Anna Kamplain, Jakob Rosenberg Research Fellow
• Sunday, July 11, at 2:00 p.m., with Anna Kamplain, Jakob Rosenberg Research Fellow

About the Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world's leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, and the U.S. headquarters for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, an excavation project in western Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums serve as a resource for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is welcome to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation's premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Location and Hours
The Fogg Art Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum are located at 32 Quincy Street in Cambridge. The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is located next door at 485 Broadway. Each Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 1 - 5 p.m.; the Museums are closed on national holidays. Admission is $6.50; $5 for seniors; $5 for students; and free for those under 18 years of age. The Museums are free to everyone Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. - noon. The Harvard University Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. More detailed information is available at 617-495-9400 or on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

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For more information on this appointment or the Harvard University Art Museums, please contact:

Matthew Barone
Harvard University Art Museums
tel 617-495-2397; fax 617-496-9762
mbarone@fas.harvard.edu

or

Kim Gilbert/Jacquelyn Burke
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
tel 212-671-5157; fax 212-595-8354
kgilbert@resnicowschroeder.com
jburke@resnicowschroeder.com