John Singleton Copley's 1768 masterwork, "Paul Revere, " still gets pride of place, though.

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This carries through from the early colonial portraits by British artists, which influenced American painters such as John Singleton Copley, all the way through to Europhile John Singer Sargent.

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Directly opposite is a spotlit silver bowl in a tall, transparent case through which is visible a 1768 portrait of Paul Revere (pictured below) by Boston's John Singleton Copley, said to be the first American to paint in oils.

ECONOMIST: Art of the Americas