The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

A Hussar Officer on Horseback

A Hussar Officer on Horseback

1812
(American, 1738–1815)
America, 18th century
black and white chalk
Sheet: 27.6 x 22.1 cm (10 7/8 x 8 11/16 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1950.216
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The soldier wears a heavy military headdress called a “busby,” originally worn by Hungarian hussars and adopted by American hussar (light cavalry) regiments during the 1800s.

Description

John Singleton Copley left Boston at the start of the American Revolution in 1775 to pursue his career in England, where he achieved distinction both as a portraitist and a history painter. Following a method often employed in France, Copley generally drew on blue paper to serve as a middle tone, working up the image using black chalk to indicate outlines and shadows, and white chalk for highlights. He made this drawing as an early study for the figure of the prince of Orange in his last major history painting, Battle of the Pyrenees (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), in 1812–15. The figure is garbed in the uniform of a “hussar,” a light cavalry officer equipped with a saber, regiments of which played an important role in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15). In the final composition, Copley used the pose not for Orange, but for the Duke of Wellington, changing the facial features and adjusting the position of the figure’s arms.
  • 1812-?
    The artist [1738-1815], London, England.
    ?-1863
    John Singleton Copley, Jr., 1st Baron Lyndhurst (the artist’s son) [1772-1863], London, England.
    1864
    (The Lyndhurst Library Sale, Christie’s, London, 2/26/1864-2/27/1864, lot 670, likely sold to Edward Basil Jupp.)
    1864-?
    Edward Basil Jupp [1812-1877], London.
    ?-probably 1950
    Passed down through the Amory family: Martha Babcock Amory (granddaughter of the artist) [1812-1880], Boston, MA; Edward Linzee Amory (great-grandson of the artist) [1844-1911], Boston, MA; Mr. Wallace (valet to Edward Linzee Amory), Foxborough, MA. Sold to Charles D. Childs Gallery.
    1950
    (Charles D. Childs Gallery, Boston, MA, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art.)
    1950-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH.
  • null
    Amory, Martha Babcock. The Domestic and Artistic Life of John Singleton Copley, RA. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1882. Mentioned: pp. 270-71
    Comstock, Helen. “Exhibition of Drawings by Copley.” Panorama by Harry Shaw Newman Gallery 2, no. 9 (May 2, 1947): 100-108. Reproduced: p. 108
    Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, In England 1774-1815. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966. Mentioned: pp. xxi, 281-83, 436, no. 674
    Cummings, Frederick J., and Allen Staley. Romantic Art in Britain; Paintings and Drawings, 1760-1860. Nashville, TN: Falcon Press, 1968. Mentioned: p. 98, no. 48
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 184 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 198 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1991. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p.122
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: cat. no. 83,,p. 8, pp. 202-203, p. 295; Reproduced: p. 203
  • Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998).
    America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985).
    National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983).
    Romantic Art in Britain: Paintings and Drawings 1760-1860. The Detroit Institute of Arts (organizer) (January 9-February 11, 1968); Philadelphia Museum of Art (March 14-April 21, 1968).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
    Exhibition of Drawings by John Singleton Copley. Harry Shaw Newman Gallery. New York, NY. (1947) 108, no. 9.
  • {{cite web|title=A Hussar Officer on Horseback|url=false|author=John Singleton Copley|year=1812|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1950.216