1. Thomas Sully was an English-American portrait painter.
24 Facts About Thomas Sully
1. 2.
Thomas Sully was born in England, became a naturalized American citizen in 1809, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including in the Thomas Sully Residence.
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Thomas Sully painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence and has been referred to as the "Sir Thomas Lawrence of America".
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Thomas Sully produced over 2,300 paintings over his 70 year career.
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Thomas Sully's subjects included United States presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson; Revolutionary War hero General Marquis de Lafayette, and Queen Victoria.
6.
Thomas Sully's work was adapted for use on United States coinage.
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Thomas Sully made his first appearance in the theater as a tumbler at the age of 11.
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Thomas Sully went to school with Charles Fraser and received informal instruction from him.
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Thomas Sully studied with his brother-in-law Jean Belzons, a French miniaturist, until they had a falling-out in 1799.
10.
Between 1801 and 1802, Thomas Sully lived in Norfolk, Virginia, the city from which his aunt Margaretta Thomas Sully West ran her theater and opera company.
11.
Thomas Sully became a professional painter at age 18 in 1801, while living in Norfolk, Virginia, with his brother Lawrence.
12.
In 1805, Thomas Sully married his brother's widow, Sarah Sully.
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Thomas Sully received his American citizenship on May 17,1809, and soon after traveled to London for nine months of study under Benjamin West, who had established his painting career in London.
14.
Thomas Sully befriended the portrait painter Charles Bird King who was studying under West in London.
15.
One of Sully's portraits of Thomas Jefferson is owned by the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society at the University of Virginia and hangs in that school's rotunda.
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Thomas Sully taught portrait painting to Marcus Aurelius Root, who later became an internationally successful daguerreotypist.
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Thomas Sully was a prolific artist and produced more than 2,300 paintings over the course of his seventy year career.
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Thomas Sully was one of the founding members of The Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia.
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Thomas Sully painted the portraits of many of the musicians and composers who were members.
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In 1835, Thomas Sully was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
21.
Thomas Sully died in Philadelphia on November 5,1872, and was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery.
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Thomas Sully's paintings are held and displayed permanently in many of the world's leading art museums.
23.
Two of Thomas Sully's portraits hang in the chambers of the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies of the University of North Carolina.
24.
The Thomas Sully painting Portrait of Anna and Harriet Coleman was sold at auction in 2013 for $145,000.