1 / 1

download image
This image is in the public domain. You can copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Learn more about our image policies.

John Singleton Copley

Anne Fairchild Bowler (Mrs. Metcalf Bowler), c. 1763

Not on View

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 127.2 x 102.2 cm (50 1/16 x 40 1/4 in.)

framed: 142.9 x 118.1 x 4.4 cm (56 1/4 x 46 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Louise Alida Livingston

Accession Number

1968.1.1

Artists / Makers

John Singleton Copley (painter) American, 1738 - 1815

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Overview

Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 28-30, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf

Provenance

Susan Louisa Pendleton Bowler [Mrs. Robert Bonner Bowler, d. 1877], Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky;[1] her daughter, Louisa Foote Bowler Livingston [Mrs. John Callendar Livingston, 1861-1933], New York;[2] her daughter, Louise Alida Livingston [d. 1967], Oyster Bay, New York; gift 1968 to NGA.

[1] Mrs. Bowler probably inherited the portrait from her husband Robert Bonner Bowler, the sitter's grandson, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1803 and moved to Cincinnati. They were married in 1842; Noadiah Potter Bowler, Record of the Descendants of Charles Bowler. (Cleveland, 1905), 42. The date of Bowler's death is unknown; he predeceased his wife (vital statistics file, Cincinnati Historical Society).

[2] Bowler 1905, 97; obituary, The New York Times, 16 August 1933, 17; she is called Louise in some sources.

[3] "National Gallery Acquires Its 10th Painting by Copley," The New York Times, 19 July 1968, 25.

Associated Names

Bowler, Susan Louisa Pendleton, Mrs.
Livingston, Louisa Foote Bowler, Mrs.
Livingston, Louise Alida, Miss

Exhibition History

1874: Possibly Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, Drawings, Aquarelles, and Works of Household Art, in the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Cincinnati, 1874, no. 318, as unidentified Copley Portrait.

1889: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1889-1902.

1936: An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937, no. 24.

1944: American Portraits by American Painters, Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1944, no. 7.

1963: American Art from American Collections, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1963, no. 181.

1965: John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966, no. 18.

Bibliography

1873: Perkins, Augustus T. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1873: 38.

1874: Possibly Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, Drawings, Aquarelles, and Works of Household Art, in the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Exh. cat. Cincinnati, 1874: no. 318, as unidentified Copley Portrait.

1890: "Contributions to the Loan Exhibitions for the Year 1889." Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts. Fourteenth Annual Report. Boston, 1890: 46.

1892: Museum of Fine Arts. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings, With a Summary of other Works of Art, Exhibited on the Second Floor. 3rd ed. Boston, 1892: 16, no. 147.

1895: Museum of Fine Arts. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings with a Summary of other Works of Art, Exhibited on the Second Floor. Boston, 1895: 17, no. 155.

1910: Bayley, Frank W. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1910: 22.

1915: Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1915: 64.

1930: Bolton, Theodore and Harry Lorin Binsse. "John Singleton Copley." The Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 116.

1936: An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937: no. 24.

1938: Parker, Barbara Neville and Anne Bolling Wheeler. John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel, and Miniature with Biographical Sketches. Boston, 1938: 42-43, pl. 37.

1944: American Portraits by American Painters. Exh. cat. Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1944: no. 7.

1963: American Art from American Collections. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1963: no. 181.

1965: John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966: no. 18.

1966: Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966, pp. 38, 103, 156-157, 210, fig. 119, no. 978.

1970: American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 44, repro., Mrs. Metcalf Bowler.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 391, fig. 564.

1980: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 135, repro.

1980: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 13, no. 3, color repro.

1981: Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 21, 22.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 387, no. 549, color repro., as Mrs. Metcalf Bowler.

1986: Yarnall and Gerdts 1986, 1: 826, no. 19985.

1988: Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 52, no. 3, color repro.

1992: American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 148, repro.

1995: Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 28-30, color repro. 29.