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Samuel Adams

Unidentified artist · 1771

An oil portrait of Samuel Adams painted in 1771 by an unidentified artist, made during his political campaign against Governor Hutchinson.

This life portrait of Samuel Adams was painted in 1771 during his campaign against Governor Hutchinson.

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Oil portrait of an older man with white hair, wearing a red coat over a white cravat and white shirt cuffs, with one hand resting near his waist against a dark background. A color calibration strip appears at the top.
Unidentified artist, Samuel Adams, 1771. New York Historical.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil painting of Samuel Adams, made in 1771 by an artist whose identity is unknown. It shows an older man with white hair, wearing a red coat over a white shirt. The painting is held by the New York Historical Society.

Why it matters

The portrait was painted during Adams's political fight against Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a British-appointed governor of Massachusetts. As one of two known life portraits of Adams from this period, it gives historians a rare look at how he appeared during the years leading up to the American Revolution.

Look closer

  • What does the clothing and pose tell you about how Adams wanted to be seen?
  • Why might the artist's identity have gone unrecorded?
  • How might a portrait painted during a political fight differ from a casual likeness?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Samuel Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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