Staley, Allen Copley and West in England 1775-1815

A lavishly illustrated study of two preeminent eighteenth-century American artists.
This book offers the first serious investigation of the relationship between eighteenth-century American Benjamin West and John Singleton Copley. For a brief span of time, the two expatriates had a close working relationship - which we can see substantially reflected in both the formal language and the subject matter of many of their best works - but it eventually turned into a rivalry.
After a brief prologue discussing the earliest of West's depictions of historical events in America, painted prior to Copley's arrival in England, the book follows the year-by-year evolution of Copley's painting from 1775 to his death in 1815, with an underlying focus on his ongoing give-and-take relationship with West. It closes with examinations of hitherto little-known and unstudied major late paintings by both artists.

After a brief prologue discussing the earliest of West's depictions of historical events in America, painted before Copley's arrival in England, the book traces the development of Copley's paintings from 1775 to his death in 1815 from year to year, focusing on his continuing give-and-take relationship with West. The work concludes with an examination of hitherto little known and unexplored major late paintings by both artists.