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John smibert biography

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John Smibert (1688 – 1751)

Raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, John Smibert settled in Boston and became one of the foremost portrait artists in colonial America. His style was that of the Old Masters, and he painted nearly 300 portraits. In his later years, with weakened eyesight, he turned to portrait painting.

He worked first as a coach painter and house painter in London and then as a copyist. He learned to draw from being a copyist and at Sir James Thornhill’s Academy, and he became a moderately successful portrait painter in London. In 1719, he went to Italy and studied by copying the Old Masters, especially Titian and Raphael. In Italy he met George Berkeley (1685-1753) who invited Smibert to go to the Colonies to help establish a university. Smibert went along and remained in America, although Berkeley left because the funding never came through for the university.

In 1729, Smibert moved to Boston where he married Mary Williams, a wealthy heiress with high social connections. He became a quick success with some of his clients coming from Old South Church, a power

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(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. Before this 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.

Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)

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Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Smibert, John

​SMIBERT or SMYBERT, JOHN (1684–1751), portrait-painter, born at Edinburgh in 1684, was apprenticed for seven years to a house-painter and plasterer, during which time he developed a taste for drawing. On leaving his master he came to London, and for a few years supported life with difficulty by working for coach-painters and making copies of old pictures for a dealer. At last he was able to enter Sir James Thornhill's academy in St. Martin's Lane. After studying there, Smibert returned to Edinburgh; but, finding no demand for face-painting in the north, he made his way in 1717 to Italy, working at Florence, Rome, and Naples, copying the works of old masters and painting portraits with success. He returned to England in 1720 with some reputation, and quickly found practice as a portrait-painter. He was a member of a society called the ‘Virtuosi of London,’ including John Wootton, Thomas Gibson, George Vertue, Bernard Lens, and other artists, and designed a large portrait group of the members. This, however, he

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