Influence on American Art.

John Smibert, who arrived in America in January 1729 at the age of forty, exerted a profound influence on eighteenth-century American portrait painting. His training in the Dutch-influenced style of portraiture that was fashionable among the British aristocracy brought a new sophistication to the art of New England.

Early Life.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was raised as a Presbyterian, Smibert studied in 1713-1716 at the London artists' academy headed by Sir Godfrey Kneller, whose style influenced several generations of British portrait painters. After a few years as a professional portrait painter in Edinburgh, Smibert left for Italy in spring 1719 and spent the next three years studying and copying paintings in the great art collections in Florence and Rome and buying works for his own growing collection. On his return to Britain in summer 1722, he established a studio in London...