Thomas Spence Duché

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Thomas Spence Duché (September 15, 1763 – March 31, 1790) was an American painter who studied under Benjamin West after his family moved from Philadelphia to London during the American Revolution.

Biography[edit]

Duché was a student at the Academy of Philadelphia as a child. His father, the Reverend Jacob Duché (1737-1798), was the first chaplain to the Continental Congress, who later allied with the British and fled to England in December 1777. The family reunited in England in 1780.[1] Duché was also the maternal grandson of Thomas Hopkinson (1709-1751) and the nephew of Judge Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791).[citation needed]

In London, Duché trained in Benjamin West's studio, alongside John Trumball and Gilbert Stuart, among others.[2] He worked primarily as a portrait painter until his early death from tuberculosis in 1790.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Dellape, Kevin (2013). America's First Chaplain: The Life and Times of the Reverend Jacob Duché. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 9781611461442. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  2. ^ Gegenheimer, Albert Frank (January 1955). "Artist in Exile, The Story of Thomas Spence Duché". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 79 (1): 3–26. Retrieved 3 July 2023.