Midshipman Augustus Brine Analysis

John Singleton Copley, an 18th century American painter, was best known for his portrait paintings of middle-class New England colonists. Daniel Crommelin Verplanck (1771) and Midshipman Augustus Brine (1782) are prime examples of his neoclassicism work from the time period that display his talent of creating an illusion of people and objects within a space with dramatic contrasts between light and dark.
The portrait of Daniel Crommelin Verplanck displays a well dressed young boy sitting on the steps of an entrance. He is wearing a salmon color jacket and knee length pants, a white patterned shirt with ruffles on the ends, a pair of white stockings and perhaps black leather shoes with silver buckles. He seems to be positioned at an angle looking away from the painter with his left arm resting on his raised right leg while dangling a necklace with a ring on top of a squirrel’s head with his right hand. The addition of the squirrel that is latching onto his right knee adds value to the piece’s
Similar to Daniel Crommelin Verplanck’s, the main light used to lit Augustus’ are pointed towards his face and hands. The light then spills over onto his hair, white shirt, waist coat, jacket’s buttons and pants since they are the only other bright elements within the painting. The background surrounding him is extremely dark and gloomy. His dark colored coat blends with what seems like a ship behind him which ultimately make his hair and pants key features in separating him from the background. Like Daniel Crommelin Verplanck’s painting, Augustus’ portrait is most likely set around sunset or before a storm occurs based on the cloudiness and sunlight peeking through the clouds. However, the skies differ in brushstroke; Daniel Crommelin Verplanck has more of a gradient blending while Midshipman Augustus Brine appears to use a wet-on-Wet