John George Brown
American, 1831 - 1913
Born in Durham, Scotland in 1831, J.G. Brown grew up in Newcastle-on-Tyne, where he worked as an apprentice in a glass factory. In Edinburgh he enrolled at the Royal Scottish Academy and by 1853 was selling his portraits in London. That same year Brown emigrated to America settling in Brooklyn, New York. While working at the Brooklyn Glass Factory, Brown attended night classes at the National Academy of Design. During this period in New York, he continued to paint portraits, which brought him to the attention of several important patrons, and by 1860, Brown had his own studio at the famous 51 West 10th Street address.
As his portraits of children became so popular and profitable, he devoted most of his time to painting genre scenes. His bright, well scrubbed faces register no hints of unhappiness and illustrate Brown’s tendency to edit the realism of everyday life. Though Brown’s urban subjects bought him financial success, he also painted many scenes of children in rural settings.
Influenced by both Eastman Johnson and Winslow Homer in his choice of subject matter, Brown, nevertheless, developed his own interpretation and style. “Bird Nesting” is a fine example of that style. The looser brush stroke and his use of naturalistic color bring to mind Winslow Homer. Brown’s palette has grown brighter and his application of paint is more varies in his outdoor scenes. Brown’s sensitivity is seen here, not only to the representation of the figure, but to the outdoors and its nuances of light and shadow as well. He was particularly attracted to the use of bright sunlight when he painted outside, always paying careful attention to the dappling effects of its reflections on different surfaces. The young boy climbing at an angle on the cliff by the beach, with the bird nest in his sight, reminds me of a carefree day at the beach. His strong, rich palette, the upright canvas, the depth of the rocks and the absorption of the boys gaze and the quietude of his surroundings create an atmosphere of suspended calm in an attempt to evoke youth’s ideal state.
As his portraits of children became so popular and profitable, he devoted most of his time to painting genre scenes. His bright, well scrubbed faces register no hints of unhappiness and illustrate Brown’s tendency to edit the realism of everyday life. Though Brown’s urban subjects bought him financial success, he also painted many scenes of children in rural settings.
Influenced by both Eastman Johnson and Winslow Homer in his choice of subject matter, Brown, nevertheless, developed his own interpretation and style. “Bird Nesting” is a fine example of that style. The looser brush stroke and his use of naturalistic color bring to mind Winslow Homer. Brown’s palette has grown brighter and his application of paint is more varies in his outdoor scenes. Brown’s sensitivity is seen here, not only to the representation of the figure, but to the outdoors and its nuances of light and shadow as well. He was particularly attracted to the use of bright sunlight when he painted outside, always paying careful attention to the dappling effects of its reflections on different surfaces. The young boy climbing at an angle on the cliff by the beach, with the bird nest in his sight, reminds me of a carefree day at the beach. His strong, rich palette, the upright canvas, the depth of the rocks and the absorption of the boys gaze and the quietude of his surroundings create an atmosphere of suspended calm in an attempt to evoke youth’s ideal state.
John George Brown was born in 1831 in England and immigrated to America in 1853. While in England he studied under William B. Scott and continuing his education at the National Academy of Design in NYC. Brown was one of the most successful genre painters of the late 19th century. He worked as a glassblower in Brooklyn and proceeded to open a studio in 1860, launching his artistic career with a painting entitled "His First Cigar". His paintings of cheery street urchins, vendors and shoeshine boys were quite popular with wealthy collectors. However, Brown falsified his subjects as always happy and healthy with just a touch of grime for cosmetics. These scenes were really below his artistic ability but he did not want to cause social alarm among patrons. Many of Brown's works were reproduced in lithography and widely distributed with packaged teas. The royalties earned from one litho were $25,000. Brown's financial success allowed for him to paint country landscapes for pleasure. He exhibited much of his work at the National Academy of Design from 1858-1900, where he also taught for many years.
Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell
Biography courtesy of The Caldwell Gallery, www.antiquesandfineart.com/caldwell
John George Brown's sentimentalized portrayals of street urchins, reproduced by the thousands, made him the richest and most celebrated genre painter in turn of the century America. Born in Durham, England in 1831, Brown studied art in England and Scotland before coming to America in 1853. He was a glassblower in Brooklyn, and a student at the National Academy of Design in New York City. He opened a studio there in 1860, when his painting, His First Cigar, launched his national reputation. Brown exploited his considerable talent to supply the Victorian taste for his specialty adept (copyrighted) pictures of young white shoeshiners, vendors and servants.
From the 1860s on, his reputation as "the bootblack Raphael" never flagged. Toward the end of his life, his yearly income averaged $40,000. Originals sold for $500 to $700. Royalties from just one lithograph, distributed with packaged tea, totaled $25,000. Though he claimed the successful formula of "contemporary truth" for his pictures, none gave doting collectors or wealthy patrons cause for social alarm. He falsified his subjects, who were in reality minority immigrants whose lives were often wretched struggles for survival. Brown's street juveniles are invariably cheerful, spunky tykes never sick, sad, emaciated, hungry or noticeably foreign. Their ragged clothing is picturesque, their grime cosmetic. They are undeniably appealing. Even the most uneven of Brown's popularized works show painterly skill and sound training. Brown died in 1913 in New York City.
MEMBERSHIPS:
National Academy of Design
American Water Color Society
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore
G.W.V. Smith Art Gallery, Springfield, Massachusetts
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
MEMBERSHIPS:
National Academy of Design
American Water Color Society
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Peabody Institute of the City of Baltimore
G.W.V. Smith Art Gallery, Springfield, Massachusetts
Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
J. G. Brown was one of America's most beloved genre painters, whose picturesque street urchins signify antebellum taste and culture. Born in Durham, England, Brown imported a Dickensian eye for youthful energy and urban bustle. His spirited accounts of New York's newspaper vendors and shoe-shine boys reached a mass public through lithographic reproductions, earning a lasting place in the American consciousness.
Brown won prizes from the Paris Exposition of 1889 and the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition of 1901, and was deeply involved in the New York art world. He was one of the most influential teachers of the National Academy of Design, acted as the academy's vice-president, and served as the president of the American Watercolor Society and the Artists Fund Society.
The Robert Hull Fleming Museum held a retrospective of his life and career in 1975. The George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum mounted a major exhibition of his work in 1989, which traveled to the National Academy of Design and the Joslyn Art Museum. His paintings are also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid.
Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal
Biography courtesy of Questroyal Fine Art LLC, www.antiquesandfineart.com/questroyal
