Boston Artists' Association
Encyclopedia
The Boston Artists' Association (1841-1851) was established in Boston
, Massachusetts
by Washington Allston
, Henry Sargent
, and other painters, sculptors, and architects, in order to organize exhibitions, a school, a workspace for members, and to promote art "for the art's sake."
There were "44 members in 1842, and 66 in 1845." They held "regularly scheduled bi-weekly social meetings" in Chester Harding
's space
on School Street
.
In the association's "studio ... both living models and casts were provided for members." The association "had casts donated to them by member Henry Sargent, and negotiated to borrow some of those at the Athenaeum."
A school was organized in 1842, overseen by John Pope
. Instructors included Samuel P. Long and B.F. Nutting
. The school was located at first in Harding's Gallery
on School Street, and from 1846 in rented rooms on Tremont Row
.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
by Washington Allston
Washington Allston
Washington Allston was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting...
, Henry Sargent
Henry Sargent
Henry Sargent , American painter and military man, was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was one of seven children born to Daniel and Mary Sargent...
, and other painters, sculptors, and architects, in order to organize exhibitions, a school, a workspace for members, and to promote art "for the art's sake."
History
According to the group's constitution: "The artists of Boston, deeply impressed with the importance of their profession, and with the necessity of a systematic course of study for its successful culmination; also with the advantages to be derived from mutual co-operation and support, resolve to form themselves into an association for the furtherance of these objects. In so doing, they pledge to each other their honor as gentlemen, to lay aside all ungenerous, envious, or selfish feelings, and to seek the advancement of the arts alone, for the art's sake."There were "44 members in 1842, and 66 in 1845." They held "regularly scheduled bi-weekly social meetings" in Chester Harding
Chester Harding (painter)
Chester Harding was an American portrait painter.-Biography:Harding was born at Conway, Massachusetts. Brought up in the wilderness of New York state, he was a lad of robust physique, standing over 6 feet 3 inches...
's space
Harding's Gallery (Boston)
Harding's Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts, exhibited works by European and American artists in the 1830s-1840s. The building on School Street also housed a newspaper press; the Mercantile Library Association; the Boston Artists' Association; and artists' studios...
on School Street
School Street
School Street is a short but significant street in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. It is so named for being the site of the first public school in the United States...
.
In the association's "studio ... both living models and casts were provided for members." The association "had casts donated to them by member Henry Sargent, and negotiated to borrow some of those at the Athenaeum."
A school was organized in 1842, overseen by John Pope
John Pope (artist)
John Pope was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York in the 19th century. He created portraits of W.H. Prescott, Daniel Webster and others. He belonged to the Boston Artists' Association; and exhibited with the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association and the New England Art Union...
. Instructors included Samuel P. Long and B.F. Nutting
Benjamin F. Nutting
Benjamin Franklin Nutting was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th-century. He taught drawing in local schools, and published do-it-yourself drawing instruction materials...
. The school was located at first in Harding's Gallery
Harding's Gallery (Boston)
Harding's Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts, exhibited works by European and American artists in the 1830s-1840s. The building on School Street also housed a newspaper press; the Mercantile Library Association; the Boston Artists' Association; and artists' studios...
on School Street, and from 1846 in rented rooms on Tremont Row
Tremont Row
Tremont Row in Boston, Massachusetts, was a short street that flourished in the 19th and early-20th centuries. It was located near the intersection of Court, Tremont, and Cambridge streets, in today's Government Center area. It existed until the 1920s, when it became known as Scollay Square...
.
Members
- Francis AlexanderFrancis AlexanderFrancis Alexander was an American portrait-painter.He was born in Killingly, Connecticut. Brought up on a farm, he taught himself the use of colors, and in 1820 went to New York City and studied painting with Alexander Robertson. He spent the winters of 1831 and 1832 in Rome...
- Washington AllstonWashington AllstonWashington Allston was an American painter and poet, born in Waccamaw Parish, South Carolina. Allston pioneered America's Romantic movement of landscape painting...
- Joseph Alexander AmesJoseph Alexander AmesJoseph Alexander Ames was an American artist, primarily known for portrait and genre painting. Originally named Joseph Emes, he was born in Roxbury, New Hampshire. Ames began painting at a young age. At the age of twelve Henry Theodore Tuckerman wrote about one of his paintings. After moderate...
(i.e. Joseph Eames) - Joseph Andrews
- Thomas G. AppletonThomas Gold AppletonThomas Gold Appleton , son of merchant Nathan Appleton, was an American writer, an artist, and a patron of the fine arts...
- Thomas BallThomas Ball (artist)Thomas Ball was an American artist and musician. His work has had a marked influence on monumental art in the United States, especially in New England.-Life:...
- Hammatt BillingsHammatt BillingsCharles Howland Hammatt Billings was an artist and architect from Boston, Massachusetts.Among his works are the original illustrations for Uncle Tom's Cabin ,...
- Joseph Edward Billings
- Edward Augustus Brackett
- Joseph CarewJoseph CarewJoseph Carew was a sculptor in Boston, Massachusetts, active between 1840-1870, and collaborated with Thomas A. Carew as the firm Carew & Brother. He exhibited his works frequently at the Boston Athenæum, with major exhibitions in 1853, 1859 and 1860. He also carved monuments for Mt. Auburn...
- Henry Dexter
- George Fuller
- Samuel GerrySamuel Lancaster GerrySamuel Lancaster Gerry was an artist in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. He painted portraits, and also landscapes of the White Mountains and other locales in New England. He was affiliated with the New England Art Union, and the Boston Artists' Association. In 1857 he co-founded the Boston Art...
- Edward D. Greene
- Henry Greenough
- Richard Saltonstall GreenoughRichard Saltonstall GreenoughRichard Saltonstall Greenough was an American sculptor and younger brother to Neoclassical sculptor Horatio Greenough....
- Chester Harding
- Joshua H. Hayward
- A.G. HoitAlbert Gallatin HoitAlbert Gallatin Hoit was an American painter who lived in Boston, Massachusetts. He painted portraits of William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster and Brenton Halliburton.-Biography:...
- George HollingsworthGeorge HollingsworthGeorge Hollingsworth was an artist in Massachusetts in the 19th-century. He was affiliated with the Boston Artists' Association and the Lowell Institute. He lived in Milton, and kept a studio in Boston on Washington Street ....
- Charles HubbardCharles Hubbard (artist)Charles Hubbard was an artist in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th century. He kept a studio on Tremont Row and was affiliated with the Boston Artists' Association. He served as state senator 1851-1852.-Biography:...
- D.C. JohnstonDavid Claypoole JohnstonDavid Claypoole Johnston was an 19th-century American cartoonist, printmaker, painter and actor from Boston, Massachusetts...
- Charles Lane
- Fitz Hugh Lane
- P. Mallory
- N.B. Onthank
- John Pope
- Henry Cheever PrattHenry Cheever PrattHenry Cheever Pratt was an American artist and explorer. He lived in Boston, Massachusetts.-Biography:Born in New England and trained by Samuel F.B. Morse, Pratt painted landscapes of Maine on painting trips with Thomas Cole and of the American Southwest while on boundary surveying expeditions...
- Thomas Buchanan Read
- J. Rogers
- Eastman Sanburn
- Henry SargentHenry SargentHenry Sargent , American painter and military man, was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He was one of seven children born to Daniel and Mary Sargent...
- William SharpWilliam Sharp (lithographer)London painter William Sharp is credited for the introduction of chromolithography to America in 1840.-External links:*...
- George G. Smith
- William E. Smith
- W. Southworth
- Charles J. Sprague
- Richard M. Staigg
- W.W. StoryWilliam Wetmore StoryWilliam Wetmore Story was an American sculptor, art critic, poet and editor.-Biography:William Wetmore Story was the son of jurist Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo Story...
- Asa Coolidge Warren
- M.J. Whipple
- Ammi B. YoungAmmi B. YoungAmmi Burnham Young was an important 19th century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His Second Vermont State House brought him fame and success, which eventually led him to become the first Supervising Architect of the U.S....
Exhibitions
- 1842 - 1st Boston Artists' Association exhibit, at Harding's Gallery. Included: Henry Sargent; Fitz Henry Lane; TintorettoTintorettoTintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
; Anthony van DyckAnthony van DyckSir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
; Caroline Negus; and others. - 1843 - 2nd Boston Artists' Association exhibit, at Harding's Gallery. Included: Thomas ColeThomas ColeThomas Cole was an English-born American artist. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century...
; Philip Harry; Asher Brown DurandAsher Brown DurandAsher Brown Durand was an American painter of the Hudson River School.-Early life:Durand was born in and eventually died in Maplewood, New Jersey , the eighth of eleven children; his father was a watchmaker and a silversmith.Durand was apprenticed to an engraver from 1812 to 1817, later entering...
; Thomas SullyThomas SullyThomas Sully was an American painter, mostly of portraits.-Early life:Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to the actors Matthew and Sarah Sully. In March 1792 the Sullys and their nine children immigrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Thomas’s uncle managed a theater...
; and others. Lenders to the exhibit: E. Haskett Derby; David Sears; George Howe; T. Whittemore; Boston MuseumBoston Museum (theatre)The Boston Museum , also called the Boston Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts, was a theatre, wax museum, natural history museum, zoo, and art museum in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts...
; C. Kimball; and others. - 1844 - 3rd Boston Artists' Association exhibit, at Harding's Gallery. Lenders to the exhibit: Professor Ticknor; Mrs. Allston; Col. H. Sargent; T.H. Perkins; Daniel Webster; J.B. Joy; H.C. Stebbins; Mrs. Wheelock.
- 1845 - Joint exhibition of the Boston Artists' Association and the Boston Athenaeum.
- 1846 - Joint exhibition of the Boston Artists' Association and the Boston Athenaeum.
- 1847 - Joint exhibition of the Boston Artists' Association and the Boston Athenaeum.