TRUMBULL, John

American painter, architect and diplomat. His importance lies in his historical paintings memorialising events in the American War of Independence. Applying Benjamin West’s and John Singleton Copley’s realistic innovations in history painting to American subjects, he created a series of images, reproduced in countless illustrations, that have become icons of American nationalism. They are also symbolic of his lifelong political and artistic identity.

Trumbull fought in the American War of Independence (for a time he was aide-decamp to George Washington) and his career was devoted mainly to depicting the outstanding events and personalities of the revolution. He was strongly influenced by Benjamin West, with whom he studied in London. In 1817 he became President of the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York, but his tyrannical attitude, especially towards young painters, led to many members leaving to set up the National Academy of Design in 1825. His pictures did not sell well, so in 1831 he assigned those in his studio to Yale University Art Gallery in exchange for an annuity. The most famous work there, and one of the most reproduced images in American art, is The Declaration of Independence (1786-97), in which most of the portraits were painted from life. His larger works are usually fairly stodgy, but his smaller pictures and sketches can be much livelier.

Trumbull, who died an embittered old man, published an autobiography in 1841.