Rescue Group

between 1777 and 1778

John Singleton Copley American, 1738-1815

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

This drawing is a preparatory sketch made for the DIA’s painting of Watson and the Shark (acc. no. 46.310).

Title Rescue Group

Artwork Date between 1777 and 1778

Artist John Singleton Copley

Life Dates 1738-1815

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Black chalk heightened with white, squared for transfer in red chalk, on green-gray laid paper

Dimensions Sheet (irregular): 14 1/4 × 21 3/4 inches (36.2 × 55.2 cm) Framed: 24 1/4 × 30 1/4 × 1 1/8 inches (61.6 × 76.8 × 2.9 cm)

Classification Drawings

Department Prints, Drawings & Photographs

Credit City of Detroit Purchase

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 48.203

Markings

Inscriptions In pencil, upper right: The Length of the Ship is 2 feet 2 inches -------

Provenance

(M. Knoedler & Co., New York, New York, USA)

1948-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Newberry, John S. "Four Drawings by Copley," Bulletin of the DIA 28, no. 2 (1949): pp. 33-35, p. 33 (fig. 3).

Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, vol. 2 [of 2]. Cambridge, 1966, viii, pp. 272–274, (fig. 378).

Neff, Emily Ballew. "Like Gudgeons to a Worm: John Singleton Copley’s 'Watson and the Shark’ and the Cultures of Natural History.” In American Adversaries: Wes and Copley in a Tranatlantic World. Houston, 2013, pp. 184-184; p. 184 (fig. 176).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

John Singleton Copley, Rescue Group, between 1777 and 1778, black chalk heightened with white, squared for transfer in red chalk, on green-gray laid paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 48.203.