Midshipman Augustus Brine 1782 John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Oil on canvas; 50 x 40 in. (127 x 101.6 cm)
Augustus Brine (1769-1840) was the son of Admiral James Brine of the Royal British Navy, by his first wife, Jane Knight. At the age of thirteen, in 1782, Brine enlisted in the Navy as a midshipman aboard the "Belliqueux" under the command of his father. In 1790, he was made lieutenant and, eight years later, he became a commander. During the War of 1812, he commanded the "Medway" and successfully captured the American brig "Syran." He was named rear admiral in 1822.
This portrait of young Brine was painted in 1782, seven years after Copley had arrived in England. He portrayed the young midshipman as proud adn self-conident. A thretening sea, a towering eliff, and a huge uptruned anchor dwarf the boy's slim figure, but nothing disturbs his air of conscious competence. Copley's English style is characterized by an assured urbanity, with fluent, broadly brushed passages and a dramatic use of light and contrast.
Bequest of Richard De Wolfe Brixey, 1943 (43.86.4)