Description
Two studies of a man with a sail or flag explore broad, forward-leaning positions with billowing fabric in John Singleton Copley’s drawing of 1798. One is studied from the back and the other from the front, allowing different views of the action to share the sheet. The work relates to The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral De Winter to Admiral Duncan, and the museum describes the fabric as a sail or flag rather than fixing one identification.
The alternatives make the drawing a record of comparison rather than a single settled image. Copley can test how an arm, body or draped shape changes the figure’s contribution to the composition. Dark chalk, lighter accents and colored marks distinguish different aspects of the study without requiring a completed setting. The historical event remains its context, but the immediate interest lies in the artist’s practical examination of gesture and pictorial placement.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the John Singleton Copley collection.





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