John Smibert

John Smibert , 1688-1751, American portrait painter, b. Scotland, the first skillful painter in New England. After his apprenticeship to an Edinburgh house painter, he went to London. There he studied art, made a trip to Italy, then returned to London, where he had small success. He emigrated (1729) to America with Dean (later Bishop) Berkeley, who had persuaded him to teach art at his college in Bermuda, though the plan did not materialize. After a stay in Newport, R.I., Smibert went to Boston. There in 1730 he assembled probably the first art show in America. He married an heiress, became a successful portrait painter, and won considerable social standing. Among his works are portraits of Judge Edmund Quincy (Mus. of Fine Arts, Boston) and Peter Faneuil (Mass. Historical Society, Boston). Harvard, Bowdoin, and other institutions house examples of his formal portraiture. Yale owns the first important portrait group painted in America, Smibert's Bishop Berkeley and His Entourage (1731), including a self-portrait. The artist's influence is evident in the work of such early Americans as Copley, Washington Allston, and John Trumbull.

Bibliography: See study by H. Foote (1950, repr. 1969).

Smibert, John (b Edinburgh, 24 Mar. 1688; d Boston, 2 Apr. 1751). Scottish-born portrait painter who emigrated to America in 1728 and settled in Boston in 1730. Previously he had travelled in Italy and practised successfully in London in an uninspired style derived from Kneller. After he settled in America his work became somewhat more vigorous. He brought with him a small collection of copies, casts, and prints, and he opened a shop in Boston where he sold artists' materials and engravings of the works of well-known artists. His collection was displayed above the shop, forming in effect America's first art gallery, and together with his own paintings it became the cornerstone of the New England Colonial portrait style. Copley and Trumbull were among the artists familiar with the collection.

Smibert, John (1688–1751). Scottish-born portrait painter who emigrated to America in 1728 and settled in Boston in 1730. Previously he had travelled in Italy and practised successfully in London in an uninspired style derived from Kneller. After he settled in America his work became somewhat more vigorous. He brought with him a small collection of copies, casts, and prints, and he opened a shop in Boston where he sold artists' materials and engravings of the works of well-known artists. His collection was displayed above the shop, forming in effect America's first art gallery, and together with his own paintings it became the cornerstone of the New England Colonial portrait style. Copley and Trumbull were among the artists familiar with the collection.