1855.1
Portrait of Thomas Flucker
Artist
John Singleton Copley
(Boston, Massachusetts, 1738 - 1815, London, England)
Title
Portrait of Thomas Flucker
Creation Date
1770-1771
Century
18th century
Dimensions
28 1/16 in. x 24 1/4 in. (71.28 cm x 61.6 cm)
Object Type
painting
Creation Place
North America, United States
Medium and Support
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Lucy Flucker Thatcher
Copyright
Public Domain
Accession Number
1855.1
This painting is considered the most physically and psychologically striking colonial portrait at Bowdoin, Thomas Flucker was an important political figure in late eighteenth-century Boston. A Tory, he fled to England in 1775. It has been suggested that the painting’s somber palette and empty background (without the traditional attributes which situate the sitter in society) may allude to the gathering storm clouds and upheavals which would culminate in the American Revolution.