A Revolution in Color

Majestic... Beautifully merges biography with history to tell the story of one of America's earliest and finest portrait painters...There may never be a better biography of Copley than this sumptuous, exquisitely told story of a man and his time. -- Kirk Reviews (starred) A memorable journey into the transatlantic world in the age of revolution through a close study of the greatest colonial American artist. Kamensky, a historian with an art historian's sensibility, provides a brilliant survey of John Singleton Copley's life, work, and subjects, vivified by a detailed examination of letters, diaries, and official records, many previously untapped, to involve the reader in the emotional and sensory experience of living in those tumultuous times. -- Jules Prown, Yale University Vivid, intimate, and richly detailed, Jane Kamensky's biography of John Singleton Copley illuminates the deeply intertwined worlds of America and England at the moment of their violent divorce. The career of the great painter from Boston provides a wonderfully fresh and surprising perspective on the American Revolution, on the scope of artistic ambition, and on the high costs of divided loyalty. -- Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve Jane Kamensky has not only crafted a stunning biography but also a truly singular account of the American Revolution. A Revolution in Color masterfully unravels any easy distinctions between patriots and loyalists. -- Amanda Foreman, author of The World Made by Women The greatest American artist of the eighteenth century, John Singleton Copley, preferred life in Britain, escaping from the bitter civil war that we call the American Revolution. In this brilliantly insightful and lucidly written biography, Jane Kamensky reveals the age of revolution in fresh new tones as complex and compelling as the interplay of light and shade in the finest Copley painting. -- Alan Taylor, author of American Revolutions A pleasure to read from first page to last, Jane Kamensky's exploration of the life, work and tumultuous times of John Singleton Copley is itself a masterpiece. Like all excellent portraitists, Kamensky probes deeply into the character of her subject, as deft with the small, revealing detail as she is with the sweeping strokes of landscape and setting. Both gripping narrative history and insightful art criticism, A Revolution in Color is a genre-busting tour de force. -- Geraldine Brooks, author of The Secret Chord Beautifully written and elegant, A Revolution in Color gives us a vibrant and new perspective on the conflict between America and Great Britain, a conflict the ambitious John Singleton Copley embodied. Jane Kamensky enriches our understanding of this vital time in world history. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, author of Most Blessed of the Patriarchs