Trumbull, John

Trumbull, John (b Lebanon, Conn., 6 June 1756; d New York, 10 Nov. 1843).
American painter. Trumbull fought in the American War of Independence (for a time he was aide-de-camp 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 (he made several visits there, and during the first of them, 1780–3, was imprisoned in reprisal for the hanging of a British agent in America). 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 gave those in his studio to Yale University Art Gallery in exchange for an annuity. The most famous of his works 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.